A 39-year-old worker of the Ministry of Education, Arnold Nii Ofori-Tackie, was shot and killed by unknown gunmen at his Tema Community One, site 7 residence in the early hours of yesterday.

The deceased, who was a Project Architect at the Procurement Division of the ministry, according to family members, died shortly on arrival at the Tema General Hospital after being shot twice in the chest by unknown assailants at about 2:15 a.m.

The assailants, who scaled the wall of the residence to the upper terrace of the building in their quest to get access to Mr Ofori-Tackie’s bedroom, also attempted shooting his 12-year-old son when he came out of his bedroom upon hearing the gunshots.

The assailants took away two mobile phones and a laptop belonging to Mr Ofori-Tackie.

A brother of the deceased, Mr Ernest Tackie, told the Daily Graphic at the deceased’s residence that his brother had received a telephone call from an unknown person last Wednesday requesting to meet him (the deceased) later that evening for a business deal.

According to him, his brother, who sat and waited several hours for the supposed business partner, retired to bed later, since the person failed to show up.

“About 2:30 a.m., I heard my younger sister screaming from an adjacent room, followed by gunshots. I later rushed out of my bedroom to my brother’s apartment and met him lying by the door and bleeding profusely from the chest,” Mr Tackie narrated.

“I raised an alarm which attracted neighbours to the scene who helped to convey him to the Tema General Hospital, where he died, after he had assured me to take heart, since he would survive the attack,” he added.

Mr Tackie, who described the incident as a suspected case of contract killing, wondered why the assailants took away only the deceased’s mobile phone and a laptop if they had actually been there to rob him of his possessions.

A lady friend of the deceased who was with him at the time of the incident told the police that the assailants first knocked on the door, requesting to see Ofori-Tackie, shortly before he was shot.

When the Daily Graphic visited the house, scores of mourners clad in funeral attire and expressing grief were around.

Family members who could not come to terms with the incident were seen wailing uncontrollably, while scores of residents of the area were seen in groups discussing the incident.

The Tema Regional Police Commander, DCOP Beatrice Zakpaa Vib-Sanziri, who, together with officials from the Homicide Unit of the Ghana Police Service, visited the scene at about 8:30 a.m. yesterday, has since launched an investigation into the incident.