3 Gunmen Kill 9 in Tavern, Police Say

Three gunmen entered a tavern and, after demanding money from the owner, opened fire on about 30 people inside, killing nine and wounding 10, police said. The robbers made off with $190 and a cellular phone in the attack on the shebeen, or informal tavern, in Elsburg township east of Johannesburg, police Inspector Joep Joubert said. Seven men and two women were killed. It was unclear if the assailants were the same ones who on April 21 entered a tavern in nearby Greenfields township and opened fire with assault rifles and pistols, killing all six people inside and wounding nine bystanders while fleeing. Violent crime has long afflicted South Africa, which has one of the highest murder rates in the world.