Members of the community demanded that a man accused of shooting two girls to death and seriously injuring another be removed from a hospital where he and his victim are being treated

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POLICE were yesterday called to quell tension at Makhwibidung village outside Tzaneen in Limpopo when members of the community demanded that a man accused of shooting two girls to death and seriously injuring another be removed from a hospital where he and his victim are being treated.

The angry villagers had gone to the hospital to demand the man's removal.

The man was admitted after he tried to shoot himself when he realised that police were about to arrest him. It is alleged that the 39-year-old suspect accosted the girls on Friday night.

Police spokesperson Brigadier Hangwani Mulaudzi said the man allegedly shot the three girls after they resisted his attempts to rape them.

The dead girls were identified as Moore Mangena and Matseba Matemane, both 17. Their 18-year-old friend is in a critical condition at Dr CN Phatudi Hospital.

The suspect, allegedly after realising that police had cornered him, attempted suicide by shooting himself in the head.

He is currently under police guard in hospital and will appear in court once he has recovered.

Mulaudzi said the villagers were angry when they approached the hospital's gates and barricaded roads and burnt tyres.

"When we got there we found angry villagers burning the guard house at the hospital.

"The villagers burnt a police car and damaged another two," Mulaudzi said.

Four police officers were also injured in the ensuing fracas, he added.

Mulaudzi said the mob proceeded to the houses of the man and that of his girlfriend in the same village and torched them.

Eight people were arrested and will appear in the Naphuno magistrate's court today to face charges of public violence, malicious damage to property and arson.

The situation was calm and police were still patrolling the area late yesterday.