Officer arrested in Diani after attempting to grab rifle from colleague

A police officer from the Diani Police Station in Kwale County on Monday went berserk and sought to shoot his colleagues and members of the public.

Constable Hans Mwambuyu attempted to grab his colleague's G3 rifle in vain and rushed to his house to get his own firearm but was subdued by other officers.

In the process, he injured his colleagues and damaged their property.

According to one of his colleagues, Constable Jane Gatune, the officer first assaulted a resident before he went for the gun in order to shoot him.

The arrested officer had earlier, together with a GSU officer based in Ruaraka in Nairobi, arrested another suspect and placed him in custody.

The incident comes barely a week after a police officer in Kapenguria killed seven colleagues before he was gunned down.

Addressing reporters at the station, Msambweni OCPD Benjamin Rotich said the officer was drunk and that his colleagues restrained him before throwing him into a cell.

He added that the incident does not have any connection to the Kapenguria attack where a police officer killed seven of his colleagues before he was gunned down.

“There was only a small problem of an officer who was drunk and he was retrained and put in cell otherwise there is nothing related to a terrorist group,” he said.

Mr Rotich explained that the officer has been at the station for almost one year and all along he has been cooperating well with his colleagues ‘without showing any evil signs.’

He added that the officer is not going to be taken to court and instead the issue will be handled internally using measures which will be enough to teach him a lesson.

“When things happen inside your house you do not have to take them outside and that is why I am saying this issue will be handled internally,” he said.

The police boss termed the incident as normal saying it is not the first time for such a case to be reported within the police force where members attempt to harm each other.

He added that the issue does not have to be blown out of proportion as the same cases occur within the family setup where children who are brought up together engage each other in a fight.

“For those who have children can bear me witness that its normal for children to fight and that is why I am saying this issue has to be handled internally,” he said.

A senior officer, who did not want to be mentioned, expressed disappointment on the new trend which is cropping up among officers who were recently recruited.

“These people are just shaming those of us who have served for so long. At my age there is no way that I can remove my gun and start threatening innocent people,” he said.