News

14 March 2023

• The two men were allegedly part of a gang that had Saturday raided a bank and robbed an unknown amount of money.

• The shooting happened near Kinyona Forest at around 9 am.

Police have denied their involvement in the murder of two men at Kinyona forest in Murang'a county.

Narrating what happened on the day, Central Regional Commissioner Fredrick Shisia said officers had arrested the two as they were coming out of the Kinyona forest carrying a bag.

They recovered a bag that had money suspected to have been stolen from Unaitas Sacco on Saturday.

The officers then insisted that the suspects show them where they had stashed the firearms, which led them back to the forest.

"The officers insisted they show them where the guns were and in the process, they had to go back to the forest to assist the officer's trace because they confided in the police that they knew where the guns were and that they were inside the forest," he said.

As the officers were maneuvering thickets trying to find the firearms, the police together with the two suspects were attacked by gunmen.

Shisia said it is during the process that the armed gunmen killed the two suspects as police took cover during the shootout.

"Unfortunately as the officers were moving in the thicket looking for the possible position where the guns may have been hidden they were met by the gunfire," Shisia said.

"This prompted the officers to take cover and they engaged the other group in an exchange of fire. It is in the process that the two were fatally injured."

The two men were allegedly part of a gang that had Saturday raided a bank and robbed an unknown amount of money.

The shooting happened near Kinyona Forest at around 9 am.

Acknowledging the mandate of the IPOA, Shishia said the Authority will carry out investigations on the same and present the findings to the public.

"At this moment, we cannot say that the police officers were responsible for the killing of these two suspects," he said.

"The officers were confronted by gunfire from a group of persons we believe were part of these suspects."

Shishia further said the AK 47 rifle recovered from the officers at the scene had "the specific number of rounds of ammunition."

He however said the firearms believed to have been used by the suspects had fewer rounds.

"We believe the two firearms were used in the exchange of fire against our officers. It is just fortunate that we didn’t get any injuries on the side of our officers," he added.

The suspects were allegedly part of a gang that robbed Unaitas SACCO Mununga branch in Kigumo town on Saturday.

The gang of six that has been on police radar had on February 25, wrestled an AK-47 rifle loaded with 14 rounds of ammunition from a police officer on patrol within the Muthithi area, which they used in Saturday’s robbery incident.

The two men were found during a joint operation by officers from Murang’a county backed up by an elite team from the Crime Research and Intelligence Bureau.

The officers had combed the Kinyona forest of the larger Aberdare Park before coming across the two.

Bodies belonging to the fallen thugs were taken to Murang'a Level V Hospital mortuary. IPOA launched investigations on Monday.