Drama in Nyeri as police bar journalists from crime scene
Police officers prevent a TV cameraman from filming a crime scene at Mathari Mission Hospital in Nyeri after an AP officer shot himself dead on Wednesday morning. The officers said the media were not allowed to cover the crime scene as it involved one of their own. PHOTO | FAITH NYAMAI | NATION MEDIA GROUP
What you need to know:
- The police were preventing journalists from the scene where an AP officer had shot himself dead.
- The journalists were forced to battle with the police officers as they struggled to take pictures and video clips of the incident.
- The officers were heard saying that media were not supposed to cover the crime incident as it involved a police officer.
- The AP officer allegedly shot himself using a G3 rifle in the morning blowing his skull and died instantly.
Journalists were Wednesday barred from covering a crime incident that involved an Administration Police officer who was suspected to have shot himself dead at the Mathari Mission Hospital compound in Nyeri County.
In a dramatic turn of events, reporters and photo journalists were engaged in a battle with police officers who said they had been instructed by their boss to prevent the media from taking pictures, video clips or interview any one concerning the incident.
The journalists were forced to battle with the police officers as they struggled to take pictures and video clips of the incident.
The officers were heard saying that media were not supposed to cover the crime incident as it involved a police officer.
“We did not invite the media to cover this incident. Who has allowed you to enter the gate? You should not take pictures or video clips,” shouted one of the officers.
The drama attracted a huge crowd of residents who came to witness the unexpected battle between journalists and the police.
The journalists had gone to cover a crime incident in which an AP officer allegedly shot himself at around 8.30am.
According to a nursing student at the Consolata Nursing College, they were in their class when they heard a gunshot from the APs' houses and then everything went silent.
“We watched from the window and saw nurses rushing to the houses. We then went out and that is when we heard that one of the AP officers who was in charge of security at the mission compound had shot himself dead,” said the student, who spoke to Nation.co.ke.
The officer allegedly shot himself using a G3 rifle in the morning, blowing his skull. He died instantly.
The 26-year-old father of one was also a second-year student at Kenyatta University's Nyeri branch, where he was studying security management.
He had been posted to the Mathari Mission Hospital together with a colleague.
Efforts to get a comment from the police failed as Nyeri central OCPD Adiel Nyange, who was at the scene, refused to talk to journalists.
