Two suspected armed robbers were gunned down Friday morning in the Wa Municipality of the Upper West Region, during a shootout with the police.

The police have described one of the suspected robbers whose name was given only as Fatau, 22, as a hardened criminal who is standing trial for other alleged offences in courts in the region but had been granted bail.

Narrating the incident to Joy News, Upper West PRO of the Ghana Police Service, Inspector Gideon Boateng, stated that Fatau and his accomplice, Nabil Abdul Hakeem were spotted by the police riding a motorbike on the SSNIT-Nakori road holding a goat that had its mouth tied to prevent it from bleating.

The duo, who are motorbike mechanics, upon seeing a team of police on patrol duties started firing at the officers.

The police, who were also on a motorbike, responded by firing several shots at the suspects and hit them on the lower parts of their bodies.

After the suspects were overpowered, they threw their arms – two pistols – into a nearby bush in a bid to hide them from the police.

Inspector Boateng said the police are yet to retrieve the pistols from the bush.

Currently, a team of police personnel is combing the area to retrieve the weapons.

He said investigations have commenced into the incident and the suspected armed robbers, who are on admission at the hospital, will be prosecuted.