Guard who fought off gunmen in South Africa is in protective custody

A hero praised as a real-life Rambo after taking on a gang of armed robbers and fighting them off has been forced into protective custody after evil death threats.

Security expert Leo Prinsloo, 52, who has personally protected Prince Charles, the Kardashians and Nelson Mandela, is now under armed guard in a safe house.

Incredible footage which has gone worldwide shows how the former South African Police Force sniper keeps his cool when he comes under gunfire attack.

Leo and his sidekick Lloyd Mtombemi remained calm despite their armoured escort vehicle being peppered with over 30 bullets from two cars firing AK47’s at them.

They were protecting an armoured vehicle with a cargo of mobile phones worth hundreds of thousands of pounds.

This amazing footage has gone around the world but now Leo and his family from Pretoria, South Africa, are paying the price having been threatened with execution.

A security expert close friend said: ‘The gang have put the word that out they were not happy that Leo fought off and has said that he and his family have to pay for it.

‘It would give the gang who did it huge street cred.

‘His family are in a safe house while we work out who they are and take the threat to them first and eliminate it and they then know that we are extremely serious.

‘We don’t mess about when gangsters threaten one of our own’ he said.

Leo said:’I was only doing my job. I am a security instructor and have my own company that trains police, military, security companies and people how to react.

‘The key is to pre-visualise what it going to happen and stay in that mindset so when the bullets start flying you know what to expect and are prepared for it.

‘Then you just go into automatic and deal with the threat. Lloyd had only been in the job less than a week so it was baptism of fire but he did what I needed.

‘I could have opened fire when I exited vehicle but safer not to do so as the threat was then exiting so our job was done and the vehicle we were escorting was safe’.

The South African guard was caught on dashcam footage fighting off a gang of armed robbers who sprayed his security vehicle with over thirty bullets in a bid to kill him, before he turned the tables on them by chasing them off at gunpoint. 

Former police sniper Prinsloo was escorting a high value cargo in his unmarked armoured Toyota Land Cruiser when he was ambushed by two cars full of gunmen.

A dozen shots at least are first heard as one car pulls alongside security expert Leo on the N4 motorway in capital Pretoria, opening fire and finally shattering his bullet proof window.

Incredibly Leo – who was with the South African Police Services special forces unit for 12 years and teaches their military special forces to shoot – remains remarkably calm under attack.

He tells his fellow security guard to cock his automatic rifle and hits the accelerator as his attackers try to kill him so they can target the armoured car in front.

The other car full of gunmen then try from the other side and fire at least 13 shots into the vehicle but expert marksman and highly trained sniper Leo remains unperturbed.

The chasing cars try to force him to stop and fire shots into the windscreen but Leo simply rams straight into them. 

When the other cars try again he rams them as well then decides on a change of tactics.

A security friend of the hero said: ‘Leo got fed up with the one-way traffic of bullets and hit the brakes and told his colleague to hand him an automatic rifle, released his seat belt and got out.

‘He had enough of being a sitting duck and decided to take the fight to the armed robbers and was not going to go down without a fight. He is an expert shot and wanted to give a little bit back.

‘When they saw Leo get out with his automatic rifle in a bullet proof vest and kneeling down to take aim they decided they had had enough and gave it up and the two cars made their escape.

‘You can see from the dashcam that from start to finish he hardly bats an eyelid but is constantly aware of where they are and doesn’t flinch when they open fire on him and does his job perfectly

‘Eventually he gets bored and decides it is time to return fire – the man is a hero. You see this sort of Chuck Norris stuff all the time in the movies but this was for real and Leo took the fight to them.’

Mr Prinsloo has a shooting academy called The Edge and trains police, military and security companies in shooting and unarmed combat and how to react to being under attack. He is said to be the best in the business.

His friend said: ‘This video just shows Leo not only teaches but practices what he preaches. He is a real-life Rambo and has never showed any fear in his life. He is a trained sniper and never misses.’

Firearms expert Leo said: ‘I cannot say much as an investigation is underway but I and my fellow guard did what was expected of us. They needed to take us out so they could take out the cargo vehicle.

‘But there was no way I was going to let that happen and unfortunately I did not have a chance to return fire.’

Police spokesman Brigadier Vish Naidoo said: ‘The suspects in two cars fired many shots at a security vehicle in a convoy in an attempt to stop it during a high-speed chase in Pretoria.

‘The driver of the vehicle managed to evade the robbers but later stopped and got out to wait for the robbers but they fled instead. No arrests have been made as of yet.’