Police shot dead a housebreaker when he pointed a firearm at them in Orlando East, Soweto, on Tuesday, said Constable Sibusiso Chauke.

“One of the suspects pointed a firearm at the police and police shot him. He got out of the car and tried to run away, fell a few metres away and died at the scene,” he said.

“One of his other accomplices tried to run away and police managed to arrest him. The other suspect was arrested in the car,” he said.

Chauke said a Volkswagen Polo, a plasma television set and an Xbox were stolen in a housebreaking in Stormill, western Johannesburg, on Tuesday morning.

Soweto flying squad members investigating the housebreaking stopped the car with three men inside on the Soweto Highway. Police found the stolen goods inside the car.

The men arrested would appear soon in the Protea Magistrate’s Court.

Sapa