Police gun down four suspected gangsters in Nyeri

wo AK-47 rifles were among some of the items recovered after four suspected gangsters were shot dead dead at Karatina in Nyeri County on Monday August 25, 2014. The suspects had earlier robbed a wholesale store at Kagio in Kirinyaga County. PHOTO | JOSEPH KANYI | NATION MEDIA GROUP

What you need to know:

  • A fifth suspect was reported to have escaped in the Monday morning incident.
  • The gangsters had robbed a wholesale shop at Kagio Town in Kirinyaga County prompting wananchi to scream for help.
  • They had managed to steal Sh70,000 from the counter before they escaped.
  • The getaway car also smashed into a stationery car packed by the roadside but the owner was not injured.

Four suspected gangsters were shot dead in Karatina Town after they were cornered by police officers who had been trailing them from Kagio in Kirinyaga County.

A fifth suspect was reported to have escaped in the Monday morning incident, which saw traffic along the busy Karatina-Nairobi road come to a standstill as curious onlookers gathered to see the bodies of the suspects, which lay beside the road.

Police said the gangsters had robbed a wholesale shop at Kagio Town in Kirinyaga County, prompting wananchi to scream for help.

This drew the attention of officers from the Nairobi-based Special Crimes Prevention Unit who had been trailing them.

Mr Elias Mureithi Karani, the owner of Kariara Wholesalers that was targeted by the suspected robbers, said he was taking goods into the shop when the suspects struck.

ORDERED TO LIE DOWN

He said they ordered everyone in the shop to lie down as they shot in the air.

Mr Mureithi escaped into his office, where he locked himself inside, but the robbers followed him and started breaking the door using a piece of metal.

A girl managed to get out of the shop and started screaming for help.

Other residents joined in the call for help, prompting the suspects to abandon their mission and escape using a blue Nissan car.

“They had managed to steal Sh70,000 from the counter before they escaped. After about 20 minutes we heard that some people had been killed in Karatina,” said Mr Mureithi.

Mr Mureithi said the thieves had terrorised the town in the past, with three robberies being reported recently.

THANKED RESIDENTS

Kerugoya West OCPD Cheminges Ndiema thanked residents for raising the alarm to alert police about the crime.

Mr Ndiema said two AK-47 rifles and a machete were recovered from the suspects after the shoot-out.

His counterpart in Mathira East, where the shooting took place, Mr Mathew Gwiyo, said police had been on the trail of the suspects for about two months.

He defended the officers for killing the suspects, saying they were within the law to use force when their lives were in danger.

“The law is very clear, when an officer’s life is in danger use of justifiable force is allowed,” said the Mathira East OCPD.

Eleven rounds of ammunition and two magazines, unused SIM cards, money and rucksack bags were scattered at the scene of the shooting.

The getaway car also smashed into a stationary car packed by the roadside but the owner was not injured.