US-based Ghanaian pastor who shot his wife surrenders peacefully
Orlando Police say Sylvester Ofori, the Ghanaian pastor who shot his wife outside her job at the Navy Federal Credit Union at Millenia Tuesday morning surrendered peacefully to the police without resisting any arrest.
At a press conference Tuesday morning, Chief Orlando Rolon said Sylvester’s shooting of his wife was captured on video.
“You can tell that she was surprised by what was happening,” he said.
The Orlando Police Department (OPD) spokesperson told the media that Barbara Tommey, 27, was shot several times by her husband, Sylvester Ofori, near her business front doors on the 4600 block of Gardens Park Boulevard, some minutes to 9.00 am.
Tommey, an employee of Navy Federal Credit Union, in the USA, was pronounced dead at Orlando Regional Medical Centre shortly afterwards, the Police added.
Ofori, 35, was arrested and taken into custody on Tuesday evening. He is being held at the Orange County Jail without bond on a charge of first-degree murder with a firearm.
Investigators during a Wednesday morning press conference did not release a motive or say whether there was a history of domestic violence of which OPD was aware, citing an active investigation.
“The background story and previous dealings with them, be it through our calls for service should there have been any or any previous incidents between them will be identified at a later time,” Detective Matthew Rogers said.
Rogers added that Tommey and Ofori were in the middle of a divorce and she hadn’t lived at the apartment they shared for months. No records documenting their divorce could be found. The couple were married in September 2015, according to a marriage licence.
Sylvester Ofori is a pastor at Floodgates of Heaven International Ministries, a church based in Parramore. He described himself as a prophet and motivational speaker. His ministry has reached tens of thousands of people.
His Facebook page has more than 60,000 followers and the church’s page has about 5,600.
A day before the shooting, Sylvester Ofori posted on his Facebook page that “One thing ppl gotta understand about extremely kind, nice, loving people is that their other side is just as EXTREME.”
Some people who responded to the post after news broke that Tommey had died, prayed for her to rest in peace, whilst others expressed anger or disbelief about what Ofori did.
“This was a false prophet,” one contributor wrote. “God warned y’all about false prophets. [T]his guy deserves every pain he gets.”
Tommey is often mentioned on social media posts and by followers as Ofori’s “first lady”.
