MAYOR’S STORY

Press, Volume XCIX, Issue 29177, 11 April 1960, Page 15

MAYOR’S STORY

Witness Of j Shooting JOHANNESBURG, April 10. The Mayor of Johannesburg, Mr Alec Gorshel, who was sitting next to Dr. Verwoerd, told Reuter this story of the assassination attempt: “I was sitting on the left hand side of the Prime Minister in the box. I was looking to the side, as was the Prime Minister, watching the cattle in the arena for the show. I heard a voice say ‘Verwoerd.’ At almost the same instant there was a bang. “I and another man tackled the gunman and as we grabbed him he fired a second shot. Both hit the Prime Minister. A number of people, including two policemen, sprang forward. The gun fell to the floor and was picked up by an official.” Another eyewitness, Stanley van Flymen, said: “What struck me was that Verwoerd didn’t utter a sound as he sat wounded, his head in his hand and blood streaming down. He never whimpered or complained. In the struggle the man seemed to be trying to wrench himself away and jump over a railing.” According to the Johannesburg “Sunday Express,” Pratt has been married twice, and recently went to Holland in an effort to effect a reconciliation with his estranged second wife, Patricia, who is living there with their child. The organiser of the agricultural show, Mr Charles Laubsche, said Pratt had been worried all day yesterday, reported the British United Press. Reuter and British United Press said the attacker was reported to be an epileptic. The news agencies said that if this were true it would appear to rule out the possibility that the shooting was the result of a political plot.