Just hours after confirming that a 32-year-old man was murdered in an apparent hit at Durban’s volatile Glebelands Hostel precinct on Wednesday night‚ police said that a second person was killed in a night of bloodshed.

A 50-year-old woman‚ who has not been named‚ was gunned down at her tuckshop‚ SAPS spokeswoman Colonel Thembeka Mbhele said on Thursday morning. Her murder‚ at approximately 8.30pm‚ came just 15 minutes after the first murder.

“It is alleged that [on Wednesday] just after 8.30pm the deceased was at her house‚ where she is also running a tuck shop‚ in Glebelands Hostel when she was approached by two unknown suspects pretending to be customers. The suspects shot the deceased in the head and chest before fleeing the crime scene. The motive is unknown‚” said Mbhele.

She added that it was not known if the two murders were related “since police are at an early stage of investigation”.

According to community activist Vanessa Burger, the murder was committed in front of the woman’s 14-year-old granddaughter.