Three people were shot dead and two others are fighting for their lives after a remark about a patron's penis size escalated into a bloodbath at a tavern in Umbilo, Durban, on Wednesday night.
Horrified customers ducked for cover as gunmen opened fire at the Merseyside Pub and Tavern on Hillier Road.
Five men, including two police officers, were arrested at 4am on Thursday.
Police said Nick Jansen van Rensburg, 57, and Rory Menzes, 40, were both shot in the chest and Shawn Strydom, 33, was shot in the head. All three men died at the scene. Two men were wounded and were rushed to a local hospital.
A police source said the two groups of men had been inside the tavern watching the World Cup qualifying game between England and Croatia last night.
"At some stage, one man from each group went into the tavern's toilets and there was an argument over the size of their penises."
When the men returned to their friends the argument escalated.
"At some stage some of the men went outside and there was a scuffle. One group returned to the tavern to watch the game and the other group remained outside," the source said.
"The men then went to their cars, opened their boots and returned to the tavern where they opened fire on the five men."
He said the shooters then casually exited the tavern, jumped into their vehicles and left.
Police spokesperson Inspector Michael Read said the altercation started at 9pm. He said that after an argument in the car park one group had returned to the pub, leaving the other group in the carpark.
Read said the men then entered and in a "precision style" picked out the five men they had had the argument with.
"The station commissioner of the Umbilo police station then formed a task team and by 4am four men had been arrested," Read said.
A witness to the shooting, Michelle Andrew, who works at the tavern, said she suspected there would be a fight when a group of men approached the other in a dispute over the size of their penises.
"Things turned nasty very quickly and they decided to have a fight outside," said Michelle Andrew. "I decided to herd regular customers to the back of the bar when one group of men, who were regulars at the pub, walked back in."
Andrew said she was standing at the front of the tavern when she saw the other group of men approach with guns drawn.
"I was trying to get patrons inside and to close the door but they were big, strong guys and they just barged in. One of the guys who was killed actually pulled me out for the way," she said, the events of last night's horror only just sinking in.
"One of the patrons had been coming here for twelve years. I can't explain what it was like to sit on a bloody floor and comfort people you've known for a long time as they are dying," she said.
Andrew's husband, Louis, was one of those injured, the bullet grazing the back of his head.
For your entertainment pleasure, in Eveleth, MN they had Midget Wrestling last night. Of course, I wasn't springing the $10 to watch. I'm sure it was interesting though...
