PS injured in dawn shooting

Youth Ministry PS Kinuthia Murugu (left) at a past function. PHOTO/ FILE

Armed gangsters on a Toyota Prado hijacking spree in the city early Saturday shot and injured the Ministry of Youth and Sports permanent secretary Murugu Kinuthia.

The PS was dropping a female companion at Hurlingham estate’s Muringa apartments at about 3 a.m. in the morning when he was attacked. He was shot in the arm and chest.

The bullet is reported to have hit him in the upper arm, pierced through the chest and lodged in his back.

By Saturday afternoon, the PS was recuperating after doctors removed the bullet.

The Director of National Youth Service, Mr David Mwania, who was among senior government officials who visited the PS, said he was in the intensive care unit but was out of danger.

According to the deputy police spokesman, Mr Charles Owino, the PS was shot by the carjackers who had earlier hijacked a Toyota Prado car along Thika Road.

The PS was attacked by an opportunistic gang that had earlier hijacked a motorist on Thika Road and later commandeered another in Lavington area before abandoning the vehicle in Ruiru.

“This is a group of four criminals that has been committing a series of crimes around the city and making it look like there is an upsurge in crime. They are not vehicle robbers, they seem to be interested in the valuables their victims are carrying,” the deputy police spokesman said.

The gangsters are reported to have driven around the city committing robberies before they accosted the PS as he drove to Muringa apartments.

Female companion

A police source who sought anonymity because he is not authorised to talk to journalists said police suspect the gangsters shot the PS after he defied an order to get out of his car.

The robbers dragged the female companion from the PS’s vehicle into the stolen Toyota Prado and drove off with her, leaving Mr Kinuthia bleeding in his double cabin vehicle.

The gangsters intercepted and carjacked another Toyota Prado car within Lavington area in which they drove off.

The gang abandoned the vehicle and Mr Kinuthia’s female companion in Ruiru area after robbing and assaulting her.

She is reportedly being detained by police at Ruiru police station for interrogation.

Mr Kinuthia’s car was driven to Kilimani police station where it was still parked by on Saturday afternoon.

Two days ago, a Kenyatta University environmental sciences lecturer, Prof Peter Kenya, was shot and killed in Kahawa West by three armed gangsters.

Another person shot and killed a 52-year-old woman and her pregnant daughter in Korogocho slums’ Grogan B area.

On Friday, police in Kasarani gunned down three gangsters believed to have been part of the gangs that killed the lecturer. They recovered two pistols and three rounds of ammunition.