A female pupil teacher of the Ada Foah District Assembly (DA) Primary school, Rebecca Wollor, was yesterday shot dead by a mason who claimed that his target was a bird perched on a tree.
Rebecca Wollor, 35, a Liberian national, and the mason, Ebenezer Pediator, 40, were said to be neighbours and residents of Otrokpe, an Ada Foah suburb.
Chief Superintendent John Kofi Yamba, the Ada Foah District Police Commander, told Daily Guide that Rebecca had left home between 6:30am to 7am on her way to school when she was gunned down.
The District Commander said Ebenezer Pediator shot the teacher in the head near an uncompleted building in the area and later surrendered himself to the police.
He said the suspect had been placed in police custody to help with investigations into the death of the teacher who had been described by many in the area as a quiet and very respectful person.
The police boss stated that the mason would be provisionally charged for murder, adding that his docket would however be sent to the Attorney General�s Department for advice.
According to him, the registered single barrel gun he used in shooting the teacher, together with the spent ammunition and eight live cartridges found in his room, was currently in police custody pending investigations. Residents of the area had different stories to tell Daily Guide.
Some alleged that the 40-year-old mason killed the teacher because she had earlier turned down his love proposal.
According to one resident, David, Rebecca rejected the love proposal Ebenezer initiated some time ago. According to David, on hearing that Rebecca was to get married in December to her boyfriend, the mason became jealous; hence his decision to shot and kill her.
They said he made up the story to the police when he claimed he had aimed at a bird and not the deceased.
They wondered how he could shoot her in a residential area and claim that he was hunting.
According to them, he had even intended fleeing the scene until a taxi driver who witnessed the incident shouted for his arrest; after which he quickly jumped onto the back seat of an �Okada,� a commercial motorbike, and went straight to the police station to report himself.
Others alleged that the suspect had earlier arrived at the uncompleted building and hidden at one corner of the building, waiting for the teacher.
Some children who were said to be on their way to school reportedly saw him holding the gun and ran away, after which they used a different route to school.
Onlookers said he soon began to behave as if he was insane when he found out that a lot of people were rushing to the scene.
One of them who declined to mention his name told Daily Guide that but for the timely intervention of the police, the mason would have been lynched by the crowd that had rushed to the scene to catch a glimpse of the deceased teacher who was lying prostrate in a pool of blood.
Rebecca, who lived alone until her death, had no relation in the area.
Her relations are believed to be living in Accra. Many described her as a quiet teacher an as liked by many both at school and in her neighbourhood.
She reportedly attending a training college and was offered a job as a pupil teacher in the Ada Foah DA Primary School.
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