2008 Skierlik shooting

The 2008 Skierlik shooting occurred on 14 January 2008, when a Johan Nel, an 18-year-old Afrikaner, opened fire in Skierlik, an informal settlement in North West, South Africa, killing 4 people, including a 3-month-old baby, and injuring 8 in a racially motivated attack; every victim of the shooting was black. The perpetrator shouted racial expletives during the shooting. He was eventually arrested after attempting to seek refuge at a nearby farm.

Nel believed that white people were "under attack"; he was noted to have an interest in farm attacks and had browsed several far-right websites. At the time of the shooting, he was awaiting sentencing for a 2003 shooting and paralyzing of a black man who had allegedly attacked him. The attack received much press interest and fueled the debate on reconciliation in South Africa. Following the attack, in November 2008, he was sentenced to 4 life sentences and 68 years in prison. Provided by Wikipedia