Seven days, seven robberies

This time, two security guards were shot in the head during a cash-in-transit robbery at the shopping mall on Tuesday morning.

It was the seventh such robbery in a week, targeting some of Gauteng's busiest malls.

Tuesday's incident happened when the two security officials were delivering cash to the FNB ATM in the shopping centre.

Two Coin security guards were shot by robbers who escaped with an undisclosed amount of money in Lenasia, Johannesburg

According to police spokesperson Mbulaheni Netshivodza, the guards were attacked by four heavily armed men inside the mall. Four other men waited in a vehicle outside the shopping centre.

Discovery-ER24 Medicopter spokesperson Werner Vermaak said that when the paramedics arrived, they found one of the guards near the escalator with a serious head injury.

"It is understood from bystanders that the man was shot near the escalators, and he dragged himself to the top before collapsing. Paramedics had to initiate advanced life support in order to save his life," he said.

Cleaners remove blood stains after two Coin security guards were shot by robbers at a shopping mall in Lenasia, Johannesburg

Vermaak said the man was airlifted to a hospital for further treatment. The second guard was also transported to hospital.

Netshivodza said the suspects fled with an undisclosed amount of money and one of the guards' guns. No arrests had been made.

Netcare 911 spokesperson Nick Dollman said one of the guards was taken to the local Lenmed Hospital by ambulance. A helicopter was used to take the other guard to Netcare Milpark Hospital.

SBV Services, a cash-in-transit company transporting the money to the mall, is offering a R250 000 reward for "information which leads to the arrest and conviction of the perpetrators".

Mall robberies are unusual for this time of the year, usually occurring during the "heist season" over Christmas.

Professor Anthony Minnaar, of Unisa's criminology and security sciences department, believes the reason for this could be that criminals are feeling the pinch caused by the economic downturn.

"It could be the assumption that criminals, like the rest of us, are feeling the tougher times. They are taking advantage of end-of-month sales, where they can get the maximum," he said.

A cleaner shows blood stains on the floor after two Coin security guards were shot by robbers at a shopping mall in Lenasia, Johannesburg

What was also making things hard for criminals, said Minnaar, was that they were not being as successful as before.

"They are going for softer targets, as cash-in-transit vans are now designed with hardened steel, and security guards are better trained. It comes down to the displacement of crime, finding other targets," Minnaar explained.

The gangs targeting malls were usually heavily armed, with assault rifles, and were not afraid to use them. "Their plan is to shoot the security guards and take them out straightaway," said Minnaar.

The gangs, sometimes with as many as 18 members, also used military tactics. They used outriders to guard the perimeter in order to fight off responding police or security guards, he added.

Netshivodza hoped CCTV camera footage in the mall would assist police in their investigation.

"This is a first (for the Trade Route Mall) in terms of a cash-in-transit, as other incidents have been business robberies," he said.