Former lover kills bride-to-be, shoots mom

 Two Phoenix families have had to abandon wedding plans for funeral arrangements after the former lover of the bride-to-be shot her dead and then turned the gun on himself.The drama began on Friday night when Shiraz Ismail, 25, a Blue Security guard, entered a gated block of flats in Brigbury Place, to confront Christine Pillay, 25, a Westville prison warden.

The couple had ended a relationship four years ago, but Ismail was said to be still obsessed with her.

Pillay was expected to get married on December 30 to Bradley Moonsamy, a police constable.

Pillay was with her parents, Elaine and Rajen, at home when the tragedy unfolded.

Her brother, Sashen Pillay, said yesterday that Ismail was escorted to their home by the building complex security guard.

The devastated family believe Ismail could have been lurking around the complex for some time and may even have knocked on Pillay’s ground-floor room window.

The last message she sent to her sister on her cellphone was that “Shiraz is here”.

Sashen said: “Ismail was allegedly holding the gun in the palm of his hand, but was concealing it inside his pocket so the building’s security guard would not notice.

“My mother came out of the house because she thought the guard would protect them.

“But Ismail allegedly shot the guard first who ran off behind the flats. He then shot my mother, Elaine, in the neck. When my sister came out of the flat, he shot her twice. He then turned the gun on himself,” Sashen said.

Pillay and Ismail died at the scene. Elaine and the security guard were taken to separate hospitals.

“Ismail was obsessed with my sister. When he heard about the wedding he began sending her threatening messages the whole week, which my sister kept from us,” Sashen said.

“My mother is in a critical condition in ICU.

“My father is distraught,” he said.

Rajen said of his daughter: “She was the youngest and just full of life.”

Silvanas Moonsamy, the groom’s father, said he did not condone violence against women and children.

“My son and Christine had got their own flat and were sprucing it up. They were ready to settle down for the rest of their lives. Ismail robbed us.”

Ismail, formerly of Umzinto, recently moved to Chatsworth. Attempts to contact his family were unsuccessful.

Blue Security managing director Henk van Bemmelen said Ismail was an armed response officer.

He was on duty when he abandoned his post and his company vehicle without notice in Chatsworth at about 7pm on Friday.

“When our control centre picked up that the officer could not be contacted via radio, we immediately sent out an alert for a manhunt as we were concerned that he might have been hijacked or abducted.

“However, upon investigation, it turned out that he had left the company vehicle unmanned in Chatsworth and somehow made his way to a house in Phoenix where he had an argument with his ex-girlfriend,” Van Bemmelen said.

Phoenix police are investigating a case of murder and attempted murder.

Moonsamy called for security guards to be screened regularly before they were allowed to carry firearms.

Van Bemmelen said: “Ismail had no criminal record and had not shown any indication of instability in the workplace prior to the shooting.

“Our officers undergo stringent security checks and training, which includes police criminal record checks and polygraph testing during the recruitment process.

“We also provide ongoing employee assistance programmes for staff who may need emotional and psychological support,” he said.

Daily News