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According to him, they were lucky to be informed by one of the gang members that the police were after them, as that gave them time to plan an escape route.
"Our friend had gone to the shop. As he was there, he heard police in civilian clothes ask around if anyone had seen us and they were on a radio call asking for backup. He then called to alert us to be on the lookout. One of us decided to distract the police as we hid. He was the first to be shot...I escaped and hid in a dumpsite and watched my friends get shot...Those are situations where you cannot do anything but be quiet and watch," he said.
Those few minutes soaking in the stench from the dumping site and watching his three friends breathe their last were his turning point.
"I lost people very close to me and to date, it still pains me. The money was good but sustaining it was at a cost that I wasn't willing to pay. That is why I decided to stop. Change for me meant helping those with a past like mine to reform and support them so that they do not backslide and that is what I have been doing since," Gaucho says.
Currently, he is running an initiative that supports single mothers whose husbands have been convicted and is mentoring those convicted of crimes such as theft.
He believes that if he succeeds in politics, he can do a lot more than that.