A young man who allegedly snatched a bag containing N3.5m was gunned down by the police in Anambra State near a new generation bank in Awka.
According to PUNCH Metro the suspect named, Chukwuemeka Afor, was involved in a gun battle for hours while trying to escape with the money.
“He was shooting indiscriminately. Four persons were hit during the gun battle. But the police overpowered him, because he sustained gunshot injuries in the process,” the eyewitness, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said.
The spokesperson for the police in the state, Haruna Mohammed, confirmed the incident.
Mohammed stated, “Police operatives attached to the Department of Operations, Awka, and stationed at the Regina Caeli junction by the Zenith Bank Plc, along the Enugu-Onitsha Expressway, Awka, responded to a distress call that a hoodlum armed with an automatic pump action rifle was firing indiscriminately after snatching a bag containing N3.5m from one Ebuka Ukeakpu.
“The suspect, Chukwuemeka Afor, 25, a native of the Akpoga Nkanu South Local Government Area of Enugu State, who was almost lynched by a mob, was arrested, while the firearm and the snatched money were recovered from him.
“However, four persons were hit by stray pellets fired by the suspect, but their injuries are not life threatening.”
According to Mohammed all those who sustained injuries are responding to treatment at the Police hospital Awka.
The case is currently under investigation and the suspects will be brought to justice.