Kruger was soaked to the skin with sweat. He knew the speed at which he was driving would alert the security men ahead that he was possibly a security threat. They would thus block the barrier and get ready to shoot before he gets to even the first one.
Quickly, he searched for what to do next. He was a quick thinker. Ahead, he saw a military armoured vehicle move to the middle of the barrier and stopped. Its guns turned to point directly at him. As he had guessed, they were blocking his path. Behind, he could see Lt. Clottey, now a tiny figure in the horizon, still running after him clutching at his right shoulder.
Quickly, he drove off the road to his right and stopped on the pavement. He saw the guns of the armoured vehicle move slightly to the left so that it was once more pointing directly at him.
Kruger blinked. He knew if the order is given and the armoured vehicle fires, within seconds, his body would be blown into pieces. He took a deep breath, opened the door, got out and began to run. He expected the armoured vehicle to begin firing at him but nothing happened. Ahead of him was an open field. Far across were buildings. He would try to get to the buildings.
Inside the armoured vehicle, Sgt. Duseh ordered his colleague not to open fire. He could have given orders for his men to do so but the sound created panic and fear among the dignitaries at the airport where the Vice-President was welcoming the Russian Prime Minister, Dmitry Medvedev; he did not want that to happen.
Lt. Clottey, still clutching at his right arm and bleeding, had seen the armoured vehicle move to the middle of the road; He had stopped running, thinking that was the end of the road for Kruger. But then he saw him drive to his right and park, get out and begin to run. He knew he had no chance of going after him because he had lost a lot of blood and was now weak. He staggered to the side of the road and sat down on the pavement. He did not see the two soldiers who had been running after him to help him out until they got to him.
“Sir, you’ve been shot,” one of them said.
“Don’t worry about me. Go after that man. He is part of a gang who had come to the airport to assassinate the Vice-President” he told them. Without much ado, the men took off, running after Kruger who was more than 150 metres ahead of them.
“Be careful! He is armed!” Lt. Clottey shouted after the two men.
“Yes sir!” the two, Cpl. Ahmed Iddrisu and Cpl. Eddie Yankey, both of the Rapid Response Unit (RRU) of the Army shouted in response as they continued after Kruger.
Cpl Iddrisu, while running, whisked out his phone and called the rest of the members of his unit at the airport for help, telling them about the fleeing Kruger. Seconds later, a helicopter belonging to the RRU appeared in the air. The pilot asked his colleagues on the ground for directions and got it.
“I have seen him!” the pilot radioed back to his colleagues.
“Damn! Damn it!” Kruger exclaimed when he heard the sound of the helicopter. He turned back and looked into the sky. The helicopter was looming straight at him. He was tired but he began to run even faster, trying to get to the flats ahead, confident that once he got there, he could outwit his pursuers. But, he soon realized it would take more than a miracle for him to outwit his pursuers when three vehicles from the RRU appeared in the horizon ahead of him and began to speed towards him. From behind, the two soldiers who had been running after him got closer. He realized he had no other route to escape through. He stopped running and studied the situation. The helicopter was hovering directly over him now. He saw its door slide open and a sniper appeared in the doorway. He recognized immediately he would be mince-meat if he tried to take them on. But he was not ready to surrender to them. Quickly, he pulled out his pistol and cocked it.