Dad shoots to death mom, two kids (Pretoria, South Africa)

Dad WIM KONIG shot his wife and two young children to death in front of his mother-in-law, before shooting himself. His wife had been recently granted an order of protection.

http://www.news24.com/Content/SouthAfrica/News/1059/64a346f8640145669281f6abeb622b87/13-09-2009-12-00/Dad_shoots_family_after_outing

Dad shoots family after outing
2009-09-13 12:00

Pretoria – A Nelspruit man shot dead his wife and their two young children in front of his mother-in-law, afterwards shooting himself.

Rendi Koning, 43, had only recently been granted a protection order against her husband, Wim, 52, but it couldn’t prevent the tragedy that happened on Saturday.

Koning shot his wife, Rendi, as well as his daughter, Melissa, 7, and son, Ivan, 9, in his wife’s car outside his home in Sonheuwel.

His mother-in-law, Mimi Prinsloo, managed to run away and tried to get help.

Marital problems

Rendi and the children had been staying with family in Potchefstroom after she and her husband were having marital problems.

She, her mother, the children and her estranged husband on Saturday morning went to the Kruger National Park on an excursion, said a family friend, Johan Lues.

Koning wanted to get back together with his wife, but his wife didn't want to.

On their return from the outing, Rendi dropped her husband off at his home in Nelspruit. She fetched a play drum, belonging to Ivan, that had remained at his father’s house after they moved out earlier this year.

No argument

Before they drove off again, Wim Koning apparently had some kind of breakdown. He fetched a 9mm pistol from his home and shot dead his family in the car.

His mother-in-law was not yet in the car and could run away. Koning by bicycle rode off to a nature reserve about 500m away and shot himself.

According to Lues, Koning had been a mechanics lecturer at a technical college in Witbank until the end of last year. He retired early and started building a guest house in Nelspruit.

Lues said nothing had happened to trigger the shooting.

“They didn’t have an argument.”



- Rapport