CAPE TOWN, South Africa — Outraged at being dumped by his girlfriend, a South African man shot and killed her and nine other people before turning the gun on himself, police said Sunday.
Seven others were seriously wounded in the shooting spree by 29-year-old security guard Bulelani Vukwana on Saturday night in the Mdantsane suburb of East London, about 560 miles east of Cape Town.
Earlier Saturday, Vukwana and his girlfriend, Nulovuyo Mbenya, had a fight and she had ended their relationship, said police spokesman Stephen Marais.
Vukwana went to Mbenya's house to try to persuade her to come back to him, and after a further argument he shot her dead outside her kitchen door, witnesses told police
"After that he went on a rampage and shot whoever he could see," Marais said.
The gunman began firing at traffic and pedestrians, killing six more people — including the driver of a passing car and two passengers in another, witnesses told the Daily Dispatch, an East London newspaper.
When police arrived, Vukwana fled in a vehicle and there was a short chase. He then abandoned the vehicle and fled through the suburb on foot, pursued by police.
When Vukwana saw he could not escape, he pointed his gun at his temple and pulled the trigger, witnesses told the Daily Dispatch.
The seven wounded were taken to hospital in East London, where they were in serious condition, Marais said.
Stotshulo Vukwana, the security guard's father, told the Daily Dispatch he had seen his son 10 days earlier and that the security guard appeared happy and had not mentioned that his relationship was in trouble.
"I am shocked. This is not my son as I knew him," the father was quoted as saying.
South Africa, a country of 43 million people, has one of the world's highest crime rates. In the first nine months of last year, 15,054 people were murdered, an average of 54 a day, according to police statistics.