In total, 15 women and two men were killed in the shootings, which also sent one additional person to the hospital in critical condition. Photo courtesy of South African Police Service/EPA-EFE
Sept. 28 (UPI) -- A manhunt is underway after at least 17 people died in shootings in a small village in South Africa on Saturday.
Police confirmed the deaths occurred at two separate rural properties in Lusikisiki, a town of around 4,000 people in South Africa's Eastern Cape Province.
"This morning, we woke up to the news of 17 family members who were shot and killed in Ngobozana village in Lusikisiki. This callous attack took place at two homesteads in the same street, during the early hours of this morning," the SA Police Service posted on X.
"[A] manhunt that has been launched to apprehend those behind these heinous killings."
In one home, 13 people were killed, with four others found dead on the second of the two properties, which sit slightly over a half-mile apart, the country's national police service said on X.
In total, 15 women and two men were killed in the shootings, which also sent one additional person to the hospital in critical condition.
Four adult women, one man and a 2-month-old baby survived, according to police.
Authorities have not elaborated on a potential motive behind the crimes.
"A very sad incident took place overnight there, where unknown people shot and killed 17 people in two separate houses," South African Police Minister Senzo Mchunu told reporters at a news conference updating the situation.
Mchunu did not elaborate on the search for a suspect or suspects.
"[South African Police Service National] Commissioner [Sehlahle Fannie] Masemola has acted and quite quickly, sending teams of forensic investigators and other investigators on a specialized basis who started doing the work there. We hope that we will find some clues in terms of who did these heinous crimes. We'll spare no moment to bring them to justice," the minister told reporters.
"We want to send a very strong message to communities that police are not izangoma ababhuli [traditional doctors]. They [police] need active community members to report. We need that from the toll-free number. We've given them [community members] our numbers in the offices. We've said they must approach police. If they don't trust them, they can use the toll-free number.
Statistics provided by police in South Africa show over 6,000 murders took place in the country between April and June.