Family claims police executed kin in Changamwe shooting
Police officers collect the bodies of three suspected gunmen shot dead on the morning of July 30, 2014, in Changamwe. Now the family of one of the dead men claims that the three were shot in cold blood as they lay helpless on the ground. PHOTO | LABAN WALLOGA | NATION
What you need to know:
- They say the men were shot dead while lying on the ground.
- The family insists that this was a ploy by the police to kill innocent hardworking Kenyans.
- Police said the three were planning to rob a petrol station when they were shot.
- Two AK-47 rifles and 62 rounds of ammunition were recovered.
Family members of one of the suspected gangsters shot dead early Wednesday in Changamwe, Mombasa, have condemned the act, calling it execution by the police.
Speaking at the Coast Provincial General Hospital mortuary on Wednesday evening, the family members decried the manner in which police officers shot dead the three.
“This is pure execution. The men were ordered out of the car and shot at close range. They may be thieves, but how could they be shot while on the ground?
"They never had the guns in their hands. The car they were in does not even have a single bullet, there is something fishy in all this,” said one of the family members.
INNOCENT KENYANS
The family insists that this was a ploy by the police to kill innocent hard-working Kenyans.
Police officers had gunned down three men at a Shell petrol station in Changamwe at the Magongo-Airport junction who they said were planning to commit a robbery.
The three are said to have come to the petrol station at around 11am, when they run into officers, who shot them before they could commit the crime.
Confirming the incident, Mombasa County Deputy Commander of Police Sevelino Kubai said officers recovered two AK-47 rifles, three magazines and 62 rounds of 7.6mm ammunition from the gunmen.
“This morning we got information that the three thugs were planning to rob this petrol station and police officers ambushed them before they could commit the offence,” Mr Kubai said.
EYE WITNESS ACCOUNT
But according to an eyewitness, the suspects came pushing their car to the filling station and asked for fuel.
“I was at the pump when the men came in and asked me to fill their tank with Sh500 fuel.
"When I was about to close the fuel tank some unidentified men came and asked me to stop what I was doing and move away from the vehicle,” the attendant said.
The witness said that the police officers ordered the three men to lie down on the ground and proceeded to shoot them.
"They shot them as they lay on the ground,” said the eyewitness.
On Friday last week, two suspected terrorists were shot dead at the Likoni ferry bus terminus by officers who were trailing them.
Security agents in the Coast region have sworn to deal with all criminals terrorising residents following a wave of killings in Mombasa.
Mr Kubai called on members of the public to work together with the police and other security agents to help combat crime in the coastal town.
He said the gunmen were suspected to be part of the gang behind attacks that have been witnessed in the region in the recent past and put on notice other criminals within Mombasa County, warning them that their days were numbered.
