Africa-Press – South-Africa. He died doing what he loves best, serving and protecting the community. He died a hero.”
These were the raw emotional words of a grief-stricken Melvin Pedro, whose “well-mannered” son Ashwin was brutally gunned down by a well-known gangster in Parkwood, Grassy Park, more than a week ago.
Hundreds of people were expected to descend on the church grounds to bid a final salute to the fallen police officer who was loved and adored by many in the community he served daily.
Police Minister Bheki Cele was due to deliver the eulogy at his funeral service on Saturday morning.
Pedro had been stationed at the Grassy Park police station for the past six years.
Speaking to News24 just hours before laying his son to rest, his father said the days leading up to the funeral had been daunting and something the family had never thought they would experience.
“Ashwin was my eldest son. He had a passion for serving his community and for singing. Oh, did my son love his singing!
“He had a voice of an angel, and it’s still very hard to process that his voice will no longer be heard in the house anymore.
“We miss him already. Nothing will ever be the same again for us.”
According to his Lavender Hill family, on the day that Pedro was shot, he had been 15 minutes away from knocking off for the day, but he and his partner had responded to call from Parkwood about a man allegedly pointing a gun at people in the street.
“From what I understand, Ashwin and his partner saw a man holding a firearm and pointing at people in the street as they came driving up the road,” his father Melvin says.
“When the suspect saw Ashwin get out of the vehicle, he attempted to flee the scene.
“Ashwin tried to disarm him, and that’s when he got shot in the chest. I remember my wife Lynette getting the dreadful call from a family member that day.
“I was busy watching TV when my wife hysterically said to me Ashwin was shot, but she was in such a state she didn’t fully understand what was being said by the family member.
“I then grabbed the phone and was told what had happened. I hung up the phone and immediately left the house to go to the Grassy Park police station.”
‘My remaining kids will never join the police’
The grief-stricken father of now-three children said he did not have a vehicle and had jumped into the first taxi he could find, hoping and praying that his son was “only shot in the arm and that he will be okay”.
“When I got to the police station, no one could tell me anything as they didn’t know anything yet, so I waited.
“A few minutes later, a sergeant walked up to me and said, ‘My deepest condolences Mr Pedro’. I looked at this man with disbelief, frantically asking where my son was.
“The station commander then came and told me Ashwin was shot dead a few minutes ago, and that he would take me to the scene where my boy was laying.”
They then went to the scene.
“When I saw him lying there, I just dropped to my knees and bowed my head in sadness as I couldn’t – I still cannot – believe he’s gone.
Melvin said:
“My wife is not handling this well. The two of them had a bond like no other – a typical mother and son bond. A beautiful moment occurred just two days before Ashwin died.
“He took his mom’s phone and recorded a song on there for her, singing to her what every letter of the word ‘mom’ meant to him. He loved his mother very much.
Pedro’s dad said it took a brave soul to join the South African Policing Service, where you had to lay your life on the line every day.
“My son was a man. He stood boldly for what is right and would jump to the defence of a woman he saw getting beat up by a man. I have mixed emotions about people joining the force, but I know for sure my remaining kids will never join the police. I don’t think my wife and I will be able to handle losing another child the way we lost Ashwin.
He said more needed to be done to protect the lives of police officers who went out daily to serve the community.
“Many of them leave the house not knowing if they will return at the end of the day. As a parent, I knew what kind of work Ashwin was getting into, but never in a million years did I think he would lose his life in the line of duty.
‘My son, my beautiful, smart son’
“It is sad that officers of the law go out to protect us, but then get killed by the same community members who they are there to protect.”
The Anti-Gang Unit have arrested a 42-year-old man in Ravensmead for the murder.
According to his father, Pedro had just returned from the Eastern Cape, where he had attended his colleague’s funeral, who had also died in the line of duty.
“I remember him asking us to help him with some cash so that he could pay his last respect to his friend. When he returned on Monday, we could see he wasn’t really himself.”
He said it was obvious that Ashwin had still been trying to process that his friend was no more, only for him to be killed three days later.
He said:
Police and Prisons Civil Rights Union (Popcru) spokesperson Pat Raolane said they were devastated by Pedro’s murder.
“We are really not happy at all,” he said.
Raolane warned that the shooting would have a demoralising effect on officers. It could also traumatise the partner officer, who might become afraid of going out, he said.
He implored residents to help the police prevent these situations and for the police and community to work together against crime.
Pedro leaves behind his parents and three siblings.
“He is resting well now. He went into this job as a hero, and he left the job as a hero. My son, my beautiful, smart son,” his emotional dad said.
“He is missed already and will forever remain in our hearts.”
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