Police kill Equity Bank robbery suspect in Kisumu, arrest five
A pistol recovered from a suspected gangster in a past shootout. FILE PHOTO | NATION MEDIA GROUP
Police in Kisumu on Thursday afternoon shot and killed a suspected bank robber and arrested five men alleged to have been working with him.
The six had staged a 1.15pm robbery at Equity Bank's Ang’awa Avenue branch.
Kisumu residents milled around the bank for about an hour, demanding to see the suspects, who they said were also to blame for the rising insecurity in the lakeside city.
Nyanza police coordinator Willy Lugusa said the suspect who was gunned down had used a toy pistol to command his way to the bank’s safe.
“He managed to break into the safe and stole an unknown amount of money that he had stashed in a paper bag when he was gunned down by officers who responded to distress calls from the bank security,” Mr Lugusa told journalists after the robbery.
The robbery comes amid increasing complaints from locals about insecurity.
Residents have staged three demonstrations in the last two months, at one time storming into Kisumu Governor Jack Ranguma’s office.
Inspector-General of Police Joseph Boinnet was on Thursday expected to visit the city for a meeting with regional police chiefs.
