Five children hurt in Dandora shootout
What you need to know:
- They were caught up in the gun battle while on their way home from school.
- Two gangs were allegedly fighting over a disagreement on how to share stolen property.
Five children were on Tuesday admitted after being injured during a shootout involving two groups of suspected robbers.
One of the gangsters who was armed with a pistol was also shot dead during the shootout that took place at Awendo Road, Dandora Phase Four.
A parent of one of the children, Benard Kekedu, said they were leaving Juhudi Academy, where they are pupils, when they were caught up in the battle at around quarter-past three in the afternoon.
The children are between five and 10 years old.
"I was called by a neighbour who told me that my child had been injured. When I went there, I found him and three others wailing in pain so I just took him to hospital," he said.
Two of the children were shot in their arms, another was shot in the thigh and two sustained gunshot wounds in their legs.
Police collected several cartridges at the scene from the shootout that, according to residents, lasted over twenty minutes.
Police sources suggested the clash was a result of a disagreement over how to share property from a previous robbery.
The Directorate of Criminal Investigations had that morning arrested the slain gangster's girlfriend who was to direct them to his hideout in Dandora.
RECOVERED AMMUNITION
The deceased, known as Martin Njogu alias Marto, was suspected to have been involved in a separate robbery in which his accomplice was shot dead.
Police recovered several rounds of .22mm caliber ammunition from Njogu. No arrests were made following the shootout but police say a manhunt has been launched for the armed gangsters who are said to have escaped on foot.
Last week, police shot and killed two suspects at Kiambiu and detectives later discovered that Njogu had attempted to call the suspects who had been killed.
The incident comes just two weeks after a 17-year-old Form Three student at Straight Secondary School in Kibera was shot dead during a robbery.
Boniface Makau was returning home from a tuition class at Laini Saba at around 11am on April 28 when he was killed.
His family claimed he was shot by an Administration Police officer.
Fredrick Mutua, the deceased's father, said Boniface was with his elder brother, Bernard Muinde, and a friend when they heard gunshots nearby.
"Am armed thug had been shot dead by two Administration Police officers as he tried to steal from a bar owner," Mr Mutua said.
He added that when the robber was shot inside the bar, residents started gathering around the scene and the officers, he alleges, shot at the crowd to disperse it.
