[ 2016-10-03 ]

The Hyundai Sonata saloon car which was retrieved by the police

Alleged car jacker gunned down by police in shootout
A 32-year-old man, Richard Opoku, was on Sunday
gunned down in a shootout with police at Katamanso
near Tema in Greater Accra after trying to steal a
Hyundai Sonata saloon car.

Four others believed to be his accomplices however
managed to escape.
According to the Public Relations Officer of the
Tema Regional Police Command, Assistant
Superintendent of Police, Ms Juliana Obeng, the
deceased together with the other four snatched
the car with registration number GN 2590-16 from
its owner, Suraj Umar.


They were said to have taken the car at gun point
at the Titanic Beach at Community 3, Tema at about
7:00pm.


According to her, Umar was sitting in the vehicle
along the beach with a female friend when the five
men, two of whom were masked and attacked with
locally manufactured pistols.
Umar and his lady friend were pulled out of the
vehicle and escorted to the shore by Opoku and his
gang and were abandoned there.


She said few minutes later, Umar went to check on
his car and found out that the robbers had taken
it away. He then lodged a complaint at the
Community 2 Police Station.


Wireless message


ASP Obeng said a few hours later, a snap
checkpoint at Katamanso signalled the Hyundai
Saloon car that fitted the description of the
stolen car to stop but the driver ignored the
signal and rather sped off.


The police officer detailed for that snap
checkpoint pursued the car with his personal
motorbike until the driver of the saloon car in an
attempt to escape from police, knocked down the
police rider and run into a ditch.

Exchange of gunfire 

She said the five occupants of the car including
the driver then got down from the vehicle and took
to their heels amidst firing of gunshots at the
police.


“The officer returned fire when he realized his
life was in immediate danger and in the process
shot the deceased, Opoku, who was the driver while
his four other accomplices managed to escape,”
she said.


According to her, the vehicle was retrieved along
with a cutlass and a mobile phone.

She said preliminary police investigations
revealed that the deceased who was the leader of
the gang had recently been granted bail by a Tema
court for similar offence of car-jacking
which was under investigation by the Tema
Regional Police Command. 

Source - graphic.com.gh

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