MyHoneydew.co.za is your community website for the area and surrounds.
Register now! You get a free blog! So you can write what you want about anything you want. You can also post comments about stories, blogs, pictures - almost everything on the site - without having to constantly fill in your details! You can also choose to receive our email newsletter! Register Now!
Northgate jewellery store robbery
Danielle Dooley
Kevin McLoughlin, owner of the NWJ jewellery store in Northgate, was shot and killed on Monday, October 4, 2010 at about 9am when four robbers stormed into the shop. He was shot in the chest and died on the scene, four other people were injured in this incident.
Between 8 and 12 men parked on the roof parking at the Northgate shopping centre in Northriding, four of the suspects came down the escalator and entered the NWJ jewellery store to rob it. The suspects used hard objects to break the glass where the jewellery was kept. They stole jewellery worth thousands of rands.
A bystander, a woman who was entering the store at the time of the robbery, said that she only saw one man yielding a weapon, she then said that shots were fired and the woman next to her fell into her before she was shoved into the back room of the store. She was very fortunate to have not sustained any physical injury, but she said she was in a great amount of shock for some time after.
The owner of the store, Kevin McLoughlin, 38, was shot in the left chest and sadly died at the scene and was declared deceased by paramedics. His wife, who is twelve weeks pregnant, was left physically unharmed but she was hysterical and in a severe amount of shock. She was transported to Sandton Medi-Clinic by ambulance for further observation. Kevin’s parents arrived at the scene shortly after and were consoled by paramedics and bystanders.
The four other people who were shot and wounded, were two security guards aged 24 and 39 and two other people, a man and a woman aged 38, were civilians visiting the mall. A woman was shot inside the mall and the man was shot at the upper parking of the mall while driving into a parking bay. Fortunately, they were all in a stable condition and were all transported to hospital for further treatment.
A search for a group of between eight (8) and twelve (12) suspects continues. The suspects fled from the scene in two get-away vehicles, green Cresiders. “Police have already identified the suspects and several leads are being followed to arrest them,” said Lieutenant Colonel Dlamini Lungelo.
Get directions to this location
- send to friend
This is about the forth armed robbery at Northgate that I have witnessed. It is time that the centre management act NOW on this issue. I am a regular shopper of the centre for the past 11 years and have seen how it has become a soft target and the reason is that security are un-armed! Why? Simply because they say shoppers will be put off coming to shop at the centre!
This is ridiculour as this morning (I was there) the security staff were actually running away with shoppers, can't blame them as they are defenceless. Centre management need to look at placing metal dettectors at all entrances and arming security staff to ensure that innocent shoppers who have a right to shop in a safe environment are afforded this service. Please wake up Northgate Centre Managemnet and become proactive as each time the robbers escape and nothing changes!
I am appalled at the incident this morning at Northgate (I was there)
Centre Management need a serious wake up call as this is the forth robbery with gunfire that I have witnessed at the centre. Security staff simply run in the other direction and have vey little crowd control skills never mind trying to offer 3 x shot and wounded shoppers any form of first aid!
It a disgrace and why don’t they decide to arm these so called security staff an place them in a position to return fire and stop this senseless barbaric killing and shooting deep inside a shopping mall!
I know the answer is that they are scared of shooting shoppers and they are also not trained in shooting a weapon but enough is enough and centre management need to take FULL RESPONSIBILITY for yet again another wild west shoot out in North Gate shopping centre!
The Store Owner was a good man who did not deserve to be killed in this manner. Let God send his angels to ease the pain of his Wife and Family. That little unborn baby will be his fathers legacy. Our prayers are with you.
I was a Northgate a few months ago when the jewellery store (I think it is called Geralds - next door to the cigar/bar shop) was held up. While I do think the security officers should be better trained in the event of an armed robbery, I think that perhaps a better CCTV system is also necessary with a couple of people actually watching what is happening during shopping hours; especially around the jewellery stores. I don't know if metal detectors at the doors would work because what happens with people who are taking trolleys out full of shopping? I am sure most people will not mind coming in thru a metal detector for everybody's peace of mind but when the centre is crowded people might start getting very agitated if there's a bottleneck. Maybe there should be a boom for getting out; not a parking charge but just a boom that opens with a card one has to pick up on the way into the centre. Sure it will slow people down but it will also make a "quick getaway" not quite as easy. Clearwater Mall has a boom at the exit (and a parking charge) and this doesn't seem to have stopped people shopping there! But more and better trained security staff is a YES YES YES.
A search for a group of between eight (8) and twelve (12) suspects, who fatally shot and killed the a jewellery shop manager (38) and wounded other four (4) people during an armed robbery at NWJ jewellery shop in Northgate shopping centre, continues. The suspects fled from the scene in two gate-away vehicles.
The armed robbery took place at approximately 9.15am on October 4, 2010. It is alleged that about four suspects entered the shop and used hard objects to break the glass where the jewellery was kept. They stole jewellery worth thousands of rands. Before fleeing the scene, they shot a shop owner in the upper body and he died at the scene.
Four other people were shot and wounded. Two of the victims were security guards aged 24 and 39. Two other people, a man and a woman (38), were civilians visiting the mall. A woman was shot inside the mall and the man was shot at the upper parking of the mall while driving into a parking bay. The victims were all taken to the hospital in a serious but stable condition.
“Police have already identified the suspects and several leads are being followed to arrest them,” said Lieutenant Colonel Dlamini Lungelo.
Eyewitness news reports the family of slain jewellery store owner Kevin McLoughlin on Monday said they are hopeful police will catch the rest of the gang responsible for his murder.
This weekend, police pounced on three people in connection with the heist.
Click here to read the full story.
