A suspected notorious car snatcher has been shot dead by the police at Konkromoase near Atasemanso in Kumasi, the Ashanti regional capital. The deceased, believed to be in his early 30s, was shot dead after allegedly engaging a joint police and army patrol team in a shooting battle. The robber whose name is unknown was in the company of another gangster and they had besieged a house in the serene neighbourhood around 1:00a.m on Saturday to steal a car. The dead robber entered the house whilst firing into the air with a locally-manufactured pistol whilst his colleague who was wielding a pump action gun stood in front of the house to deal with any eventuality from outside. The deceased robber had managed to get an ignition key to a latest Audi Q7 car, registered Q 7-Y and was about to drive off when police arrived. Upon seeing the police, the robber, wielding a pump action gun and standing in front of the house took to his heels leaving his colleague in the house to his fate. When the deceased robber saw the security personnel, he suddenly opened fire on them with his locally-manufactured pistol to scare the police away, but the joint petrol team stood their ground and returned fire which killed the robber. Deadly weapons such as locally-manufactured pistols, sharp knives, one spent cartridge, three unspent cartridges, two mobile phones, car keys and the key to the main gate of the house were found on the deceased robber. Addressing the media, Patrick Timbillah, the Ashanti Regional Police Commander, said he personally received a distress call about robbers’ invasion of a house at Konkromoase near Atasemanso. He narrated that one of the robbers entered the house whilst his colleague stood outside with a pump action gun ostensibly to prevent neighbours from coming to assist the victims in the house. The robber that entered the house rushed into the watchman’s room right at the entrance of the house and at gun point demanded from the watchman who was asleep the keys to the four cars parked in the house. The watchman, after waking from his sleep, became terrified upon seeing a man with a gun pointed at him so he suddenly scaled the wall of the house and ran to safety. The robber, upon a search in the watchman’s room, managed to lay his hands on the keys to the Audi Q7 and the main gate of the house which had been locked. He then opened the main gate of the house and jumped into the brand new Audi Q7, started the engine and was at the brink of moving away with his booty when police arrived. DCOP Timbillah noted that the robber in charge of a pump action gun and standing outside the house upon seeing the police petrol/army team vanished into thin air to avoid being arrested. The robber who was in charge of the Audi Q7 then started firing gun shots at the security personnel to scare them away but the police/army petrol team took cover and fired back. One of the bullets by the patrol team hit the robber who was seated in the car in the thigh. After he had been hit, the robber got down from the vehicle and tried to shoot again at the law enforcement agents but his gun did not shoot. The robber then allegedly pulled a sharp knife and started racing towards one of the security officers ostensibly to stab him to death but he was shot from behind by another officer, killing him instantly. DCOP Timbillah said the incident was the first major robbery case in Kumasi after residents of the city had experienced an incident-free Christmas period following the measures put in place by the police. The Police Capo sounded a strong warning to robbers to desist from the evil ways, reminding them that the police was on top of the security situation and would deal ruthlessly with them if they dared strike. DCOP Timbillah commended the person that called from another house to inform the police about the robbery incident in his neighbourhood, stressing “we should be each other’s keeper.” He however urged the public to be abreast of the police hot line and called on it anytime that they were attacked by miscreants.