{"id":308102,"date":"2026-05-14T20:55:35","date_gmt":"2026-05-14T18:55:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/bloemnewsexpress\/a-significant-free-state-road-r26-remains-closed-following-a-deadly-shooting\/"},"modified":"2026-05-14T21:13:17","modified_gmt":"2026-05-14T19:13:17","slug":"a-significant-free-state-road-r26-remains-closed-following-a-deadly-shooting","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/bloemnewsexpress\/a-significant-free-state-road-r26-remains-closed-following-a-deadly-shooting\/","title":{"rendered":"Significant Free State road, R26 closed temporarily following deadly shooting"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>FREE STATE <\/strong>&#8211; Free State police have warned motorists to avoid the R26 between Tweeling and Reitz, which is temporarily closed following a deadly shooting earlier this evening. Police say this significant road in the province remains closed due to an active crime scene while investigations are ongoing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Police have confirmed there are casualties following the shooting, though further details are yet to be released.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;Law enforcement officials are on scene conducting investigations. The road remains closed until further notice to ensure public safety and allow emergency personnel to complete their work,&#8221; said Lieutenant Colonel Thabo Covane, Free State provincial police spokesperson.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Covane advised motorists to use the following alternative routes:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Motorists travelling from Bethlehem and Qwaqwa should use the Petrus Steyn road.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Motorists travelling from Gauteng to Qwaqwa and Bethlehem should use the N3.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Further updates will be provided as more information becomes available.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Free State road R26 was closed due to an active crime scene while police investigations are ongoing regarding a deadly shooting.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":31,"featured_media":298143,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"newspack_ads_suppress_ads":false,"newspack_sponsor_sponsorship_scope":"","newspack_sponsor_native_byline_display":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_native_category_display":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_underwriter_style":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_underwriter_placement":"inherit","_crsspst_to_novanewscoza":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozacityvision":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozadistrictmailhelderberg":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozaeikestadnuus":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozahermanustimes":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozakomani-karoo":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozakougaexpress":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozamthathaexpress":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozanoordkaapbulletin":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozapaarlpost":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozapeexpress":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozapeoplespost":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozaswartlandgazette":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozatygerburger":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozaudexpress":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozavistanews":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozavrystaatkroon":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozaweskusnuus":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozaweslander":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozaworcesterstandard":false,"_eb_attr":"","_EventAllDay":false,"_EventTimezone":"","_EventStartDate":"","_EventEndDate":"","_EventStartDateUTC":"","_EventEndDateUTC":"","_EventShowMap":false,"_EventShowMapLink":false,"_EventURL":"","_EventCost":"","_EventCostDescription":"","_EventCurrencySymbol":"","_EventCurrencyCode":"","_EventCurrencyPosition":"","_EventDateTimeSeparator":"","_EventTimeRangeSeparator":"","_EventOrganizerID":[],"_EventVenueID":[],"_OrganizerEmail":"","_OrganizerPhone":"","_OrganizerWebsite":"","_VenueAddress":"","_VenueCity":"","_VenueCountry":"","_VenueProvince":"","_VenueState":"","_VenueZip":"","_VenuePhone":"","_VenueURL":"","_VenueStateProvince":"","_VenueLat":"","_VenueLng":"","_VenueShowMap":false,"_VenueShowMapLink":false,"sponsored_utm_source":"","sponsored_utm_medium":"","sponsored_utm_campaign":"","sponsored_utm_term":"","sponsored_utm_content":"","_newspack_byline_active":false,"_newspack_byline":"","newspack_content_restriction_is_exempt":false,"author_byline":"","competition_end_date":"","featured_image_custom_caption":"","language_version_url":"","post_language":"en","video_embed_url":"","scaip_prevent_shortcode_addition":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1,7996],"tags":[7911,8860,7874,8272,91],"newspack_spnsrs_tax":[],"publication":[],"class_list":["post-308102","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","category-top","tag-crime","tag-free-state","tag-local-news","tag-saps","tag-top"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v27.7 (Yoast SEO v27.7) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>A Significant Free State Road Closed After Shooting | BloemNews Express<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Significant Free State road closed following a shooting. 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