Luke Flowers
The central defender of the South African club Kaizer Chiefs Luke Fleurs was shot dead on Wednesday during the violent theft of his vehicle at a gas station, his club and the police announced on Thursday.
“It is with immense sadness that we announce that Kaizer Chiefs player, Luke Fleurs, tragically lost his life last night during an attempted theft of his vehicle in Johannesburg,” the club posted on the networks social.
The Chiefs are one of the biggest football clubs in the country, twelve times champions of South Africa, and finalists in the African Champions League in 2021. Trained at Ubuntu Cape Town, his hometown, before playing at SuperSport United from 2018 to 2023, Fleurs participated in the 2021 Olympic Games in Tokyo. He was also called up to the national team but did not have any selections.
According to police, the 24-year-old was waiting to be served in his Volkswagen Golf when two armed men arrived in a car and burst in.
“The suspects threatened him with a gun and made him get out of the vehicle, before shooting him in the upper part of the body,” said a police spokesperson, “one of the suspects left with the victim’s vehicle, followed by his accomplice.”
The footballer was pronounced dead on arrival at hospital. Police have launched an investigation and are searching for the suspects, but no arrests had been announced as of Thursday morning.
Violent crime is a recurring problem in South Africa, and a hot political issue in the run-up to general elections scheduled for May. The country recorded an average of almost 84 murders per day between October and December 2023, according to official figures.
SOURCE: AFP
