Policewoman shot on COVID-19 duty battling trauma
Sources close to the policewoman who was shot by a naval officer in Tema New Town last week Thursday in a freak incident say she is battling with trauma.
L/Cpl Francisca Tengey was on COVID-19 restriction on movement enforcement duty at Tema New Town when a naval officer, AB1 Oppong Bekoe, allegedly shot her in the right thigh.
The 33-year-old L/Cpl Tengey of the Tema Regional Command of the Domestic Violence and Victim Support Unit (DOVVSU) has since been treated and discharged from the Tema General
Hospital, but close relations told the Daily Graphic that she had hardly slept since the incident.
“She has become extremely sensitive; footsteps, human voices scare her. She thinks her life may be in danger,” the source who sought anonymity said.
Routine checks
The shooting incident happened in the neighbourhood of the old police station in Tema New Town during routine checks on the road at the designated checkpoint.
“She reported for morning duty at the post along with two other police staff. The naval officer was with two other colleagues who were yet to be relieved from their night duty,” the source said.
L/Cpl Tengey is said to have been worried about how AB1 Bekoe kept looking at her while she performed her duties, and at a point walked away from the road to a temporary shed erected for security staff at the duty post to confirm her suspicion.
On her return to the checkpoint, she noticed the naval officer was still persistent with his gaze, and from behind he cocked his gun and fired, hitting L/Cpl Tengey just above her knee.
Escape
She ran on the injured leg in desperation into the police barracks in the neighbourhood, a second shot from the same gun missed target, while her fellow police staff ran for cover.
The source said other naval staff at the checkpoint forced their colleague to surrender and was subsequently arrested.
L/Cpl Tengey was first sent to the Port Clinic in Tema, but was referred to the Tema General Hospital.
The source said L/Cpl Tengey had denied any communication of any value with her alleged shooter, and was “struggling to come to terms with what must have caused the unprovoked gun attack.”
The source said the attack was unprovoked, and took everybody around the area by surprise.
“She is shocked because the attack came from someone who had access to legal gun and could walk in town with it. You never know what could happen if they should ever meet again,” the source said.
Meanwhile, AB1 Bekoe is being held in the military guardroom after his release by the police to the Military Command after his statement was taken the same day.
The shooting incident happened just four days after a civilian was killed by the gun of a military officer at Ashaiman, also in the Greater Accra Region, during a similar lockdown enforcement duty.