In one tragic, accidental instant, one bullet took a man’s life and likely ended a rookie Bronx cop’s career — because the officer set his gun on a table while he played video games.
Officer Martinson Afari Yeboah, who joined the NYPD last April 27, planned to wed in three weeks with Frederick Afoakwah as his best man, Afoakwah’s family said.
Instead, the rookie cop’s unsafe handling of his weapon led to his friend’s death. Sources say Yeboah will almost certainly lose his job in the incident.
The shooting happened about 5:30 a.m. Sunday inside Afoakwah’s apartment on W. Moshulu Parkway South.
Yeboah, who lives on the same floor and was off-duty, went to his friend’s place to play video games. They two loved playing soccer video games together, family members said.
Yeboah put his gun down on a table, said sources.
Afoakwah picked it up to check it out, and fired a shot into his neck. He was rushed to St. Barnabas Hospital, where he died, they said.
Yeboah was assigned to a Bronx housing command, Police Service Area 7. He’s since been suspended from the force.
“They are best of friends.” said Joyce Yeboah, 54, Frederick Afoakwah’s devastated aunt.
Afoakwah, 21, lived with his parents and a cousin, and attended Borough of Manhattan Community College. He started studying criminal justice, inspired by Yeboah’s budding NYPD career.
“He encouraged Fred to take that subject,” Afoakwah’s dad, Ransford Afoakwah, 54, said.
Both families hail from Ghana, and are tightly knit
“We are family, one family,” said Joyce Yeboah. “Their doors are always ajar…. [Martinson Yeboah’s] mother is a Deaconess in our church.”
The two men met when Afoakwah moved into the building with his family in 2013, and they’ve been inseparable since. They shopped for clothes together, and attended the Church of Pentecost on 216th St. and Bronx Blvd. on Sundays and Wednesdays.
Afoakwah’s father said he’s not angry at Yeboah.
“Martinson is a good guy, he’s a respectful guy,” he said. “I don’t see him ever talking to people, shouting or fighting — I never see it…. If someone is your enemy you’re not going to ask them to be your best man.” Afoakwah said.
Even so, Yeboah questioned why the gun was left out in the open.
“If you bring the gun home, you bring it to your apartment first, and you lock it.” she said.
“I know it is an accident.” the victim’s aunt added. “What actually happened, nobody knows.”
Yeboah found out about her nephew’s death on Sunday in a phone call from her son. She headed to the police precinct, where she found her sister-in-law collapsed on the floor.
“She couldn’t sit, she couldn’t stand. She was on the floor mourning her son. It’s her only child,” Yevoah said.
Yeboah was taken into custody after the shooting. While at the precinct, he asked his uncle to go to the hospital to find out whether his best friend had survived.
“And then the uncle told him unfortunately he passed,” Yeboah said. “He could not understand. He had to tell him six times before it sunk in.”
