Top Port Elizabeth doctor, family hurt in shooting, knife frenzy

At 5am in a quiet, gated community in Deer Park, a Port Elizabeth doctor allegedly shot his wife and son before stabbing himself in the stomach.

All three survived but the early-morning incident on Monday shocked neighbours, who said the family had always seemed close, but kept to themselves even during community braais.

According to police, the shooting appears to have started when the mother found her 59-year-old husband — who is not being named as no arrests have yet been made — standing with a gun next to their son’s bed.

The 55-year-old woman immediately screamed and her husband allegedly pulled the trigger — shooting his son, 22, in the right side of his head, police spokesperson Capt Sandra Janse van Rensburg said.

According to Janse van Rensburg, the woman then allegedly tried to grab the firearm from her husband.

However, the gun went off and she was shot in the stomach.

Janse van Rensburg said after the man’s son had been shot the woman “managed to disarm him and ran to the kitchen”.

“Thereafter, she [allegedly] found her husband in their bedroom with a stab wound in his stomach.”

All three were taken to hospital, with the woman later discharged, according to Janse van Rensburg.

Hospital staff declined to disclose any details on the condition of the doctor and his son.

“The investigation is continuing,” Janse van Rensburg said.

The injured woman — whose husband is a specialist at Life St George’s hospital — did not respond to several telephone calls or a WhatsApp message sent on Friday.

The estate in which the family live is in an upmarket neighbourhood with a number of smallholdings dotted around, and is on the outskirts of Port Elizabeth just off Seaview Road.

Many residents living on the tree-filled estate were unaware of the incident, while others refused to speak, only saying the couple were “very private”.

One resident said she had only seen a police vehicle leaving the estate on Monday afternoon.

A few minutes later, she said, a message had been sent to their WhatsApp group telling the couple that their gate was open.

“I suppose people did not know that something had even happened when that message was sent,” she said.

“No-one responded to that message, which was strange.

“Normally, the group is very active.”

She described the couple as friendly but rather reserved.

“They largely kept to themselves apart from joining the odd street braai we would have when everyone got together.

“Otherwise, you never really saw or heard from them,” she said.

Another neighbour, who lives near the couple’s house, said she had heard no gunshots that morning.

“I never even knew it had happened,” she said, after being told what the police had reported.

“We have all really being keeping to ourselves during the lockdown.”

Another neighbour said she knew about the incident, adding: “They are an incredibly private family so not much has been said about it.”

Atlas security officials were the first to arrive on the scene.

However, the security company's spokesperson, Wayne Hart, declined to comment.

“This is in the interest of protecting client’s confidentiality,” he said.

The contact number for the doctor’s medical rooms at St George’s Hospital went unanswered, with a voicemail message saying it was closed “during this time”.

Asked about the doctor, Life St George’s Hospital manager Alex Daneel said: “We are not permitted to share any information pertaining to the patient without express consent.”

This is the second time a Port Elizabeth doctor has been involved in an alleged incident with a gun in recent months.

Dr Mkhuseli Boto, 50, is accused of attempted murder after his estranged wife, Tabita, was shot in the face at their Summerstrand home in August.

He is accused of shooting Tabita, 36, also a medical doctor in the city, in the jaw after an argument.

He then allegedly attempted to commit suicide.