A Ghanaian academic working at Southern Illinois University (SIU) Carbondale in the United States has died after being shot in Illinois.
Dr Kofi Akamani, a 48-year-old professor in SIU Carbondale’s Department of Forestry, was fatally wounded in a shooting near Lake Road, between Murphysboro and Carbondale, at about 5 p.m. on Saturday.
According to the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office, deputies dispatched to the area found Dr Akamani injured at the scene. He was rushed to Memorial Hospital of Carbondale, where he was later pronounced dead.
Authorities have since arrested his 35-year-old wife, Betty Akamani, in connection with the incident. She is facing multiple charges as investigators work to establish what led to the shooting.
The sheriff’s office said the circumstances surrounding the incident remain under investigation and stressed that the case was still in its early stages. No further details have been released.
The investigation has received assistance from the Jackson County Ambulance Service, Jackson County Coroner’s Office and Jackson County State’s Attorney’s Office.
At SIU Carbondale, Dr Akamani was part of the Department of Forestry, where he taught courses including forest recreation and conservation social science.
His academic career, however, began in Ghana. He reportedly attended the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), where he obtained a Bachelor of Science degree in Development Planning, specialising in Urban Planning.
He subsequently pursued postgraduate studies in Norway, earning an MPhil from the University of Oslo’s Centre for Development and the Environment in 2006.
Dr Akamani later moved to the United States for doctoral studies at the University of Idaho, where he earned a PhD in Natural Resources.
His research also brought him back to Ghana during his doctoral programme. He spent six months studying collaborative forest management and examining how such practices affected the social and ecological resilience of two forest-dependent communities in the Ashanti Region.
The circumstances of his death have now placed his academic and professional work in focus as authorities continue their investigation into the shooting.
