MUTARE - A Mutare man was shot four times as he wrestled and unmasked an AK 47-rifle wielding robber, foiling his reign of terror at Machikichori Shopping Centre in Chikanga Phase 3 on Saturday evening.
The robber however, made-off with close to $1 000 from GJ Investments but had to abandon his mission, leaving Mazikana nursing gunshot wounds, one on the left hand, another that went through his left ribcage, with a fourth bullet tearing his left hip.
Narrating his ordeal from a his hospital bed, a brave but badly injured Tandadzai Mazikana, a trained martial artist, said a fifth bullet missed his head by a whisker before he escaped after one Hardlife Magureyi, a retired soldier, kicked the robber in the head with shoppers scuttling for safety behind cars, shops and under cover of darkness.
“I could not continue fighting him as l felt weak from heavy bleeding apart from the fact that no one came to my aid except Magureyi who kicked the robber’s head,” Mazikana told the Daily News.
Mazikana said the robber was wearing a balaclava helmet which he however, managed to remove in an attempt to reveal the identity of the robber.
The robber was also dressed in a hooded jacket, tight-fitting jeans and red tennis-shoes, complete with gloves.
“With no one to help me, l had to run to my friend’s house who accompanied me to hospital,” he said.
Mazikana has now attained hero status in the small eastern border town.
Magureyi said he had a small team that tried to pursue the robber for a distance, with the robber occasionally firing in the air to keep his pursuers at bay before disappearing into a nearby maize field.
Manicaland provincial police public relations office was yet to officially confirm the incident by the time of going to press.
Magureyi himself had been robbed of $350 and his retailing co-tenant lost more than $500 in the first hit where the robber fired two rounds into the wall while ordering shoppers to lie on the floor.
He said he only managed to find enough courage to kick the robber’s head to free Mazikana after it dawned on him that the robber was using live ammunition.
Mazikana had grabbed the robber from behind after he had fired three rounds, two on the floor and another through the roof upon entry into Fuse Rise Grocery Shop where the cashiers however, had already made good with their cash.
With the gun discharging at automatic as the two rolled down the stairs of Fuse Rise Grocery Store, Mazikana maintained a vice grip on the robber from behind Magureyi.
“I had followed the robber with the intention of physically disarming him because l thought he was using fire crackers and dummy rounds,” Magureyi said.
“I only retreated after Mazikana cried out that he had been shot as I was even inviting others to come and mob the robber disregarding the gun as l thought it had blanks.”
Magureyi said after the robber fired the shot that missed Mazikana’s head, the gun jammed, giving an impression that he had filled the magazine with a mixture of both live and dummy rounds.
However, Magureyi said the robber exhibited military training skills as he never let loose of the unstrapped military rifle in spite of being way smaller than the physically imposing martial artist.
With the gun jammed for a moment, Magureyi came out from behind a snooker table armed with the hard balls, pelting the robber who then ran towards a commuter minibus.
The alert driver sped off and later turned to flash the robber who then momentarily laid his weapon down as he removed his jacket before fleeing.