Police have begun investigations into the shooting of a purportedly mentally-ill man by an officer at the Akyem Tafo Branch of Ghana Commercial Bank on Monday.

The man, known as Ishmael, was shot in the thigh by the police officer and taken to the hospital for treatment.

According to the police, Ishmael was armed with a knife and posing as a threat to customers.

This forced one Constable Seyram Normersinu to call for help from another officer, Lance Corporal Sarkodie Asante, who was on duty at a nearby Community Bank.

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Lance Corporal Sarkodie Asante persuaded Ishmael to leave but he returned again with the knife to the bank.

A struggle then ensued when Ishmael tried to disarm the police officer leading to him being shot in the thigh.

Sergeant Francis Gormado, the Deputy Eastern Regional Police Public Relations Officer in an interview with Citi News indicated that the victim who was on admission at the Tafo Government Hospital has been transferred to the Eastern Regional Hospital for further treatment.

“Our checks reveal that he was responding to treatment,” Sgt, Gormado said.

He also called for some patience from the family of the victim on the matter.

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“It is our hope that the family will collaborate with us so that we can attend to the victim… I am appealing to the family to actually collaborate with the police so we can do our best to revive him.”

A similar incident occurred in the same Eastern where a 25-year-old man was accidentally shot by a police officer at the Senchi Police Station in the Asuogyaman District.

In another incident, a man also believed to have been mentally ill, was gunned down in September by the Akyem Kwabeng Police in the Eastern Region after he reportedly besieged the Police station and threatened to kill some officers.

Source: citinewsroom.com