Nuke ops man shot during gang raid
8 November 2007, 15:56
A senior Nuclear Energy Corporation of South Africa (Necsa) employee was shot during an attack at Pelindaba.
It remains unknown how exactly three armed men gained entry to the national key point in the early hours of Thursday morning.
It is believed that the three, once inside the facility, used a ladder stolen from the nuclear facility's fire department to scale a wall and so get into the control room.
It is suspected that Necsa Emergency Services operational officer Anton Gerber was shot when he surprised the men.
Gerber was rushed to Eugene Marais Hospital where he is reported to be in a serious but stable condition.
The shooting of Gerber comes four months after Necsa's newly appointed services general manager, Eric Lerata, 43, was gunned down in cold blood in outside his Montana home after returning from a week-long business trip in France.
In a bizarre twist, two of Lerata's alleged killers, who were out on bail at the time of his killing, were arrested on murder charges on Wednesday while appearing at the Kempton magistrate's court in connection with a case of theft.
Necsa spokesperson Chantal Janneker confirmed the attack on Gerber but declined to say where in the facility the shooting took place or if the gunmen had taken anything.
She said that no one else was injured in the attack.
"Once we have a report, we will reveal exactly what happened," said Janneker.
It remains unknown how exactly three armed men gained entry to the national key point in the early hours of Thursday morning.
It is believed that the three, once inside the facility, used a ladder stolen from the nuclear facility's fire department to scale a wall and so get into the control room.
It is suspected that Necsa Emergency Services operational officer Anton Gerber was shot when he surprised the men.
Gerber was rushed to Eugene Marais Hospital where he is reported to be in a serious but stable condition.
The shooting of Gerber comes four months after Necsa's newly appointed services general manager, Eric Lerata, 43, was gunned down in cold blood in outside his Montana home after returning from a week-long business trip in France.
In a bizarre twist, two of Lerata's alleged killers, who were out on bail at the time of his killing, were arrested on murder charges on Wednesday while appearing at the Kempton magistrate's court in connection with a case of theft.
Necsa spokesperson Chantal Janneker confirmed the attack on Gerber but declined to say where in the facility the shooting took place or if the gunmen had taken anything.
She said that no one else was injured in the attack.
"Once we have a report, we will reveal exactly what happened," said Janneker.
- This article was originally published on page 3 of The Pretoria News on November 08, 2007
Pretoria
