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The Woodville house where Mr Dave Watson was shot

Nqobile Tshili, Chronicle Correspondent
TWO men armed with guns shot and injured a man at his home in Bulawayo’s Woodville suburb before robbing him of more than $800.

Mr Dave Watson ducked a bullet while a second one went through his thigh when the gang struck at about 8.30PM on Wednesday.

He told The Chronicle yesterday that he hid in a bush as the gunmen ransacked the house.

Mr Watson said as the intruders searched for money, he crawled into the house through a window to rescue his elderly mother-in-law.

He said it was only through God’s grace that he was still alive.

“This occurred yesterday (Wednesday) at about 8:30PM while I was watching television. Dogs started barking and I took a torch and walked outside but I saw nothing,” Mr Watson said.

A few minutes later, he said, the dogs started barking madly and as he looked through the window, he saw two men on his veranda, peeping into his bedroom.

“I ducked instinctively as a bullet suddenly splintered part of a wall right next to my face. That first shot almost hit my face and the second one went through my thigh. I was lucky as it only went through the flesh without hitting the bone. With the first shot I could have died but due to God’s grace I’m alive,” Mr Watson said.

He said after being shot, he escaped into the bush, leaving the robbers alone in the house with his mother-in-law who was asleep. “I couldn’t leave my mother-in-law at the mercy of those villains. I crawled and sneaked to the back of the house, entering my mother-in-law’s room through the window before whisking her to safety,” Mr Watson said.

“We remained in the bushy area until the dogs stopped barking. That’s when we were sure that they had left. We then moved back into the house. I told my maid who was sleeping in an outhouse to go tell the neighbours and send the information into our community WhatsApp group”.

Mr Watson said the robbers got away with more than $800 which his mother-in-law was saving for a trip to her native home in Germany.

He said emergency rescue teams arrived at his home at about midnight before taking him to the United Bulawayo Hospitals (UBH) for treatment.

“I was discharged from the hospital at about 5:30AM (yesterday). At the hospital they really did their best with the little they had. And this morning the police came back for further investigations and I had to take them through the place,” Mr Watson said.

Bulawayo police spokesperson Inspector Precious Simango confirmed the robbery and appealed to the public to avoid keeping large sums of money at home.

“There are some armed robbers who are still on the loose. As police we’re following on some leads as we want the public to be safe in their homes. But we further appeal to the public to bank their money to avoid being robbed,” she said.

@nqotshili