De Bruin Werner

Age 33. Werner de Bruin woke up when he heard a violent noise at the front door of the house. A group of three armed intruders was actively attempting to break open the door to gain access to the residence. A fierce struggle ensued at the entrance as Werner de Bruin physically fought back and tried to kick the primary intruder out to prevent the men from entering the house where Charlotte Freeman, their three-year-old son, and an eight-year-old boy were sleeping. During the violent altercation, a second attacker fired a shot through the door, hitting Werner de Bruin. He was shot to death at the scene, but his actions successfully kept the gunmen from entering the home, and the remaining family members survived the encounter without further physical harm. During the initial moments of the commotion, Charlotte Freeman managed to phone their neighbor, Wynand van der Merwe, who was an officer stationed at the Boschkop police station, to plea for immediate assistance, and she subsequently phoned Dr. Botha at roughly 01:00 to report that Werner had been shot.