Police kill four suspects in Nairobi's Thome estate
Members of the public at the scene where four suspected robbers were shot dead by police officers at Thome Estate along Thika Road Nairobi on December 17, 2013. Save for its dusty roads, Thome 5 is one of the affluent estates off Thika Superhighway but whose value has diminished because of insecurity. BILLY MUTAI (NAIROBI)
Four suspects were Tuesday killed by police and an AK47 rifle recovered from them in Nairobi’s Thome estate.
Police said the four were challenged to stop by officers from the Special Crime Prevention Unit who had been trailing them early Tuesday morning but they refused.
“They instead shot at the officers who replied in fierce fire,” Kasarani police boss Augustine Nthumbi said at the scene.
Also recovered from the slain suspects were 14 rounds of ammunition and five handcuffs.
“One of those handcuffs is of the normal type used by our Kenya Police officers while the other four and fake plastic one of the American type,” Mr Nthumbi clarified.
He said the police had been tipped by members of the public about the suspects before the Special Crime Unit Prevention officers who were on patrol got the alert and started following them.
The police boss urged the public to volunteer any information they may have about any suspicious individuals warning that crime could be on the increase this festive season.
“But we are not going to give them a chance. We encourage members of the public to help us by volunteering information about any suspicious individuals,” he added.
Residents who milled around the scene to get a glance of the bodies before police took them away to the city mortuary chanted praises to the officers for a “job well done”.
Thome is one of the estates in the city where most robberies are committed and residents now want the police to ruthlessly deal with the criminals.
