General News of Monday, 3 January 2022
Source: www.ghanaweb.live
2022-01-03All about the 'gunman’ who started 2022 with a hot police chase
The young man is said to have fired the gun as part of celebrations to mark the new year
Whilst the country was preparing to transition into the new year, he had his own fancy idea, quite a daring one, one that he would only learn later, would land him in huge trouble.
On the eve of the New Year, he was reportedly found at the ANC mall at East Legon, having a field day with a gun-firing episode.
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Investigations by the police later revealed that the said suspect is a soldier. His name is Flt. Sergeant Nicholas Owusu.
This is how the story panned out:
Videos emerge of man firing gun in open space on December 31:
Several videos took over social media, which captured a young man, with an AK-47 gun, firing continuously into the air at the ANC mall in Accra.
In one of the videos, the young man who was wearing a white shirt first took some time to load bullets into his assault rifle from the driver’s seat of a black SUV vehicle.
After the car park seems a little free of human movement, he moves to the center to fire several rounds of shots into the air.
He is embraced by a suspected acquaintance in the process and shortly after, the shooting stops.
Police announce GHC5,000 bounty on suspect:
A day after this, the Ghana Police Service released a statement, acknowledging the occurrence of the incident and placing a GHC5,000 bounty on the suspect.
The content of the statement indicated that the police have “taken a serious stance against the actions of the young man since it is a crime to discharge a firearm in public without lawful and necessary occasion under Section 209 of the Criminal Offences Act 1960 (Act 29).
“The police administration, after reviewing the video footage has placed an amount of 5 thousand cedis as a bounty for anyone who can provide information leading to the arrest to face prosecution,” the statement added.
Police, military arrest gun-firing man:
Earlier today, another statement from the police indicated that the said suspect is a military officer who has been arrested through efforts of the police and the military.
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“A collaboration between the Police and the Military has led to the arrest of Flt. Sergeant Nicholas Owusu Frimpong in connection with the discharge of a firearm at A&C Mall, East Legon, on Friday, December 31, 2021.
“The suspect was arrested following Police investigation into the incident of a young man captured on video footage firing several shots of a firearm at A&C Mall purportedly to welcome the New Year, 2022,” the statement said in part.
The statement added that the suspect has since been detained by the Military Police.
“The suspect, Flt. Sergeant Nicholas Owusu is currently detained by the Military Police whilst investigations continue,” the statement signed by the Director of Public Affairs, Supt. Alexander Kwaku Obeng, added.
The Ghana Police Service has therefore urged the general public to be guided in their celebrations and “desist from acts that compromise public safety and order.”
