Chiefs footballer Luke Fleurs shot dead in hijacking
Defender was at petrol station when armed assailants opened fire before taking his car
04 April 2024 - 15:36
by Nick Said
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Kaizer Chiefs defender Luke Fleurs was shot dead in a hijacking in Edenvale on Wednesday night. Picture: KAIZER CHIEFS/X
Former SA junior international footballer Luke Fleurs, who played for the country’s most popular club Kaizer Chiefs, was killed in a hijacking in Johannesburg, police officials said on Thursday.
The 24-year-old was shot in the chest at a petrol station on Wednesday night and the assailants drove off in his vehicle.
“While waiting to be served by the petrol attendant, he was confronted by two armed males,” SAPS spokesperson Lt-Col Mavela Masondo said, adding no arrests had been made yet.
Centreback Fleurs played in all SA’s games at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021. He was called up to the senior team for World Cup qualifiers against Ethiopia later that year, though he did not make it off the bench.
“We woke up to the heartbreaking and devastating news of the passing of this young life. This is such a huge loss for his family, friends, his teammates and football in general. We are all grieving this young man’s passing,” SA Football Association president Danny Jordaan said.
Sport, arts & culture minister Zizi Kodwa said he was “saddened that yet another life has been cut short due to violent crime”.
Fleurs joined Chiefs from SuperSport United in October, having come through the Ubuntu Football Academy in Cape Town. /With Reuters
Support our award-winning journalism. The Premium package (digital only) is R30 for the first month and thereafter you pay R129 p/m now ad-free for all subscribers.
Chiefs footballer Luke Fleurs shot dead in hijacking
Defender was at petrol station when armed assailants opened fire before taking his car
Former SA junior international footballer Luke Fleurs, who played for the country’s most popular club Kaizer Chiefs, was killed in a hijacking in Johannesburg, police officials said on Thursday.
The 24-year-old was shot in the chest at a petrol station on Wednesday night and the assailants drove off in his vehicle.
“While waiting to be served by the petrol attendant, he was confronted by two armed males,” SAPS spokesperson Lt-Col Mavela Masondo said, adding no arrests had been made yet.
Centreback Fleurs played in all SA’s games at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021. He was called up to the senior team for World Cup qualifiers against Ethiopia later that year, though he did not make it off the bench.
“We woke up to the heartbreaking and devastating news of the passing of this young life. This is such a huge loss for his family, friends, his teammates and football in general. We are all grieving this young man’s passing,” SA Football Association president Danny Jordaan said.
Sport, arts & culture minister Zizi Kodwa said he was “saddened that yet another life has been cut short due to violent crime”.
Fleurs joined Chiefs from SuperSport United in October, having come through the Ubuntu Football Academy in Cape Town. /With Reuters
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