‘Cold-blooded’ murder shocks Swakopmund

A 44-YEAR-OLD German woman was shot to death on the beach near Swakopmund’s jetty shortly before 08h00 on Friday.

The cold-blooded murder of Alexandra Mooren in broad daylight – apparently for her handbag – has left residents of Namibia’s premier holiday resort “shocked, angered, annoyed and perturbed” as one woman put it. Mooren, a German citizen, has lived at Swakopmund for two years.She was on her way to African Art Jewellers in the centre of town where she worked as a master goldsmith.She normally walked along the beach to work every morning.The suspect accosted her on the beach in front of the house at 7 Promenadenweg between the jetty and the Mole.He shot her twice in the chest with a stolen .38 mm special revolver before grabbing her handbag.Doris Ackermann, a resident who regularly takes a morning run on the beach, witnessed the incident.She told The Namibian shortly afterwards that she had just taken off her shoes and started running on the beach when she noticed Mooren and a man standing in front of her a few metres away.”I saw him raising his arm.I thought he was going to grab her bag.I wanted to shout a warning at her, but before I could do it I just heard boom, boom, boom.He then took her bag and ran.It happened so fast it felt like I was watching a movie,” said a distraught Ackermann.She saw Mooren fall down and started running to the Strand Hotel to phone the emergency services.”I kept on looking over my shoulder to make sure the suspect would not shoot at me.”Ackermann saw a man near the hotel and asked him to rush over to Mooren, while she made a call.The eyewitness said the suspect might have fired more than three shots.”It was cold blooded murder.”International SOS arrived at the scene within minutes, but there was nothing they could do for Mooren.”We tried to resuscitate her, but were unsuccessful,” said a paramedic.He confirmed that she was shot twice in the chest.By the time the Police arrived a crowd of about 40 people had already congregated at the scene.”People were very upset, including Municipal employees who were working nearby,” said a caller to the paper.Chief Inspector Bernhard !Uirab, Swakopmund Station Commander, said although the Police had only been informed 30 minutes after the shooting, they acted swiftly and arrested the suspect at the taxi rank behind the Shoprite shopping complex within an hour.He was still in possession of the revolver.A second suspect, who was in possession of Mooren’s handbag, was arrested later in the morning at Mondesa.They will both appear in the Magistrate’s Court today on charges of murder and armed robbery.Outraged residents have organised a Black Band Civil Demonstration at the courthouse to coincide with their appearance.Posters were distributed over the weekend to call on people to join in the demonstration to express “shock and compassion, as well as our protest and anger at the brutal and senseless murder of innocent people”.Residents are asked to wear a black band from today to Wednesday to show their solidarity and protest the safety of the town that has been jeopardised.Chief Inspector !Uirab told The Namibian the two suspects were “old customers” of the Police.The man who allegedly shot Mooren was released from prison about two weeks ago after serving a lengthy sentence for robbing a tourist.He allegedly broke into a vehicle in the centre of town on Thursday and stole the weapon he used on Friday.According to the court there are another two or three pending robbery cases against him.Mooren was single and leaves behind her parents and two sisters in Germany.Mooren, a German citizen, has lived at Swakopmund for two years.She was on her way to African Art Jewellers in the centre of town where she worked as a master goldsmith.She normally walked along the beach to work every morning.The suspect accosted her on the beach in front of the house at 7 Promenadenweg between the jetty and the Mole.He shot her twice in the chest with a stolen .38 mm special revolver before grabbing her handbag.Doris Ackermann, a resident who regularly takes a morning run on the beach, witnessed the incident.She told The Namibian shortly afterwards that she had just taken off her shoes and started running on the beach when she noticed Mooren and a man standing in front of her a few metres away.”I saw him raising his arm.I thought he was going to grab her bag.I wanted to shout a warning at her, but before I could do it I just heard boom, boom, boom.He then took her bag and ran.It happened so fast it felt like I was watching a movie,” said a distraught Ackermann.She saw Mooren fall down and started running to the Strand Hotel to phone the emergency services.”I kept on looking over my shoulder to make sure the suspect would not shoot at me.”Ackermann saw a man near the hotel and asked him to rush over to Mooren, while she made a call.The eyewitness said the suspect might have fired more than three shots.”It was cold blooded murder.”International SOS arrived at the scene within minutes, but there was nothing they could do for Mooren.”We tried to resuscitate her, but were unsuccessful,” said a paramedic.He confirmed that she was shot twice in the chest.By the time the Police arrived a crowd of about 40 people had already congregated at the scene.”People were very upset, including Municipal employees who were working nearby,” said a caller to the paper.Chief Inspector Bernhard !Uirab, Swakopmund Station Commander, said although the Police had only been informed 30 minutes after the shooting, they acted swiftly and arrested the suspect at the taxi rank behind the Shoprite shopping complex within an hour.He was still in possession of the revolver.A second suspect, who was in possession of Mooren’s handbag, was arrested later in the morning at Mondesa.They will both appear in the Magistrate’s Court today on charges of murder and armed robbery.Outraged residents have organised a Black Band Civil Demonstration at the courthouse to coincide with their appearance.Posters were distributed over the weekend to call on people to join in the demonstration to express “shock and compassion, as well as our protest and anger at the brutal and senseless murder of innocent people”.Residents are asked to wear a black band from today to Wednesday to show their solidarity and protest the safety of the town that has been jeopardised.Chief Inspector !Uirab told The Namibian the two suspects were “old customers” of the Police.The man who allegedly shot Mooren was released from prison about two weeks ago after serving a lengthy sentence for robbing a tourist.He allegedly broke into a vehicle in the centre of town on Thursday and stole the weapon he used on Friday.According to the court there are another two or three pending robbery cases against him.Mooren was single and leaves behind her parents and two sisters in Germany.