The Eastern Regional Police Command has arrested one person in connection with the shooting incident that happened in Akropong over the weekend during the final funeral rites of Late Queenmother, Okuapemhemaa Nana Dokua.
A lady, Ama Dankwa, 39, was hit by a stray rubber bullet from shots fired at the funeral ground.
The victim who was watching the funeral from a storey building was hit by scattered pellets from the musketry display by musketeers.
The Eastern Regional Police PRO, ASP Ebenezer Tetteh told the media that the suspect is being held by the Police to assist in its investigations into the matter.
“One Francis Annie, a 26 year old man who was among the group that accompanied the Abotakyihene to the funeral ground fired a musketry. And investigations indicate that he fired with a rubber bullet which hit one Ama Dankwa. This lady sustained various degrees of injuries and was quickly rushed to the Tetteh Memorial Hospital in Mampong for treatmnent. As we speak she’s responding to treatment, and the man, Francis Annie is also in our custody. A locally made small pistol from which he fired from has also been retrieved.”
Firing of musketry has been part and parcel of all festivals and funeral rites involving chiefs in the region.
However, the Eastern regional Security Council banned firing of firearms by musketeers in 2013 when one person was killed and two others injured in a shooting incident during the Akropong Odwira Festival.