Ex-policeman on SA shooting spree

South Africa has a reputation for violent crime

An ex-policeman has shot dead four people and wounded eight others in the central town of Postmasburg.

He went into the streets where he allegedly shot four people

Police spokeswoman

The 27-year-old man was dismissed from the police force in February 2000 after being found guilty of fraud and was released from prison in 2001.

Police said seven people who were seriously wounded in the shooting spree were taken to a hospital in the neighbouring city of Kimberley, while another person was being treated in the Postmasburg hospital.

They did not identify the gunman or give further details about his conviction or a motive for the attack.

"He went into the streets where he allegedly shot four people," police spokeswoman Chantel Manuel told Reuters news agency.

"Two died on the scene, another died in the hospital in Postmasburg and another one died on the way to the hospital."

Shooting spree

She said the gunman was arrested Monday night after a shooting spree that lasted one-and-a-half hours and would face four cases of murder and eight cases of attempted murder.

Police say the incident started when the ex-policeman stormed a police precinct in Postmasburg and threatened an officer with a knife before stealing a rifle and two pistols from a weapons safe.

The gunman then walked the streets of Postmasburg, about 730 kilometres (450 miles) south-west of Johannesburg, firing at passers-by and restaurants packed with evening diners.

Police say the suspect then stole a car at gunpoint, drove it to a nearby township and shot and killed one person.

He was later captured in a shoot-out with police.

The incident follows the arrest last week of a serving South African policeman for the murders of five petrol station attendants who were shot in the back of their heads.

International monitors rate South Africa as one of the most violent places outside a war zone - with 20,000 people murdered every year and a bank held up every seven hours.