Three suspected gangsters killed in Nairobi

Gun drama unfolded at a Nairobi estate as fleeing gangsters engaged police in a fierce shoot out Monday.

After the shots were silent, three men who police said were gangsters lay dead, including one who was shot while hiding in a toilet.

Bundles of bank notes stashed in a polythene bag were also recovered from the toilet after the 10 am shoot out at Mwiki estate.

Police said they recovered Sh100,000 that was part of Sh2 million the suspected gangsters took away after raiding Sheraton petrol station near Ruiru on the Eastern Bypass.

The gang also robbed the premises owner, a Mr Patel, of a mobile phone before speeding off on two motorbikes.

Officers from the Special Crime Prevention Unit caught up with the fleeing gang in Mwiki.

An area resident who identified himself as Kimaru said: “I just heard gunshots at around 8am and everybody was running for cover. One man who was wearing short pants shot in the air and the crowd ran away from his direction. He was shot. The other was killed at a different spot.”

After the guns went silent, police officers jumped on roof tops and started looking for other gangsters.

An officers involved in the operation told the Nation there were eight gangsters involved in the robbery.

Police officers surrounded the area and moved from one building to another in search of the rest of the gang but gave up after about an hour and left.

But the special unit officers were called back after residents in one of the residential houses discovered that one of the common toilets had been locked “for a long time and whoever was inside was not responding to persistent knocks.”

“One of us telephoned a police officer who said we should lock the toilet from outside and exit the building,” according to a resident who did want to be identified.

The officers arrived moments later and killed him.