An eyewitness in the Lapaz shooting incident which saw two police officers gunned down by armed robbers has revealed that the officers were unarmed when the attack took place.
Two police officers were shot in broad daylight at Lapaz in Accra Thursday, July 13. The criminals who were on a robbery mission shot the policemen who tried stopping them by giving them a hot chase on their motorbikes.
Speaking to JoyNews, the witness (name withheld) stated that the police would have been able to counter the attacks but for their defenseless state at the time they were pursuing the suspects.
“I think it would have helped if the policemen had guns also, if they had it in this instance, they would have been able to fight back”.
The police officers who were said to be on patrol around 1 pm Thursday afternoon tried stopping these suspected criminals who were riding on unregistered motorbikes but they were snobbed.
Speaking to JoyNews, Tesano District Police Commander, Edward Kojo Tetteh explained that the officers, in an effort to stop them mounted their official motorbikes and pursued the two men.
One of the two, Djibril Alhassan, he said, was shot in the right arm by the robbers who were threatened by how fast he was catching on in the chase. Alhassan after the shot rushed to the Lapaz Community Hospital for treatment.
Owusu Daniel, the second police officer was shot in his chest multiple times as he continued the chase, making him fall to the pavement. The suspects after he fell, shot him in the stomach, killing him in the process.
They subsequently stole a Hyundai vehicle from a motorist at gun point before speeding off towards Kasoa.
The Inspector General of Police, David Asante Apeatu, following the shooting has announced a GH¢10,000 reward for anyone with information leading to the arrest of two armed men who shot two police officers at Abeka Lapaz.
This would be the second attack on police officers in less than two months. Barely a month ago, a Policeman believed to be in his 30s was shot dead by two armed men.
The officer, Michael Kporye, was shot in the face and in the chest at Tulaku near Michel Camp, in the Greater Accra Region.
Suspected armed robbers have shot and wounded a Police officer at Akwansrem in the Ashanti Region.
A few weeks later, Lance Corporal Kwaku Mensah, who was stationed at Anwiankwanta in the Bekwai Municipality, sustained several gunshot wounds when gunmen attacked a vehicle he was traveling on.
The vehicle was attacked by gun-wielding robbers who attacked the vehicle at about 10 pm.