A police officer was fatally shot by a suspected thug on a motorbike in Cravers, Thika, on Wednesday, in an incident that has shaken area residents.
In the incident, the officer, who was in plain clothes, is believed to have been shot after a routine inspection of motorcycles turned violent.
The officer, a constable attached to the Special Police Investigations Unit (SPIV), is said to have met his demise when he stopped a rider whose motorcycle lacked the unique registration code required for genuine boda boda operators.
The officer is believed to have been shot in the neck after removing the ignition key from the bike after finding out the rider lacked the required credentials.
He was rushed to Thika Nursing Home, where he unfortunately succumbed to his injuries.
The thug is believed to have used a Ceska pistol to shoot the officer, as police officers who arrived on the scene recovered a loaded magazine that he had supposedly dropped after committing the act.
Witnesses who were privy to the crime revealed that the two had engaged in a squabble that even led to them heading to the other side of the road. However, the situation got tense and violent, leading to the thug drawing out his firearm and shooting the cop.
After committing the act, the thug is said to have fled to a nearby estate, where he hijacked a boda boda from a rider who was carrying a passenger.
According to footage obtained by Kenyans.co.ke, the thug is seen threatening the rider with what appears to be his firearm before making away with the motorbike.
The rider and passenger quickly make a run for it as the thug veers off in the other direction in an attempt to escape.
However, the rider, in a later interview, confirmed that he had been able to retrieve his motorcycle after the thug dropped it in his attempted escape.
It is unclear whether the thug has been arrested, but authorities maintained that investigations were underway to determine the circumstances that led to the officer’s shooting.
The latest comes amidst heightened scrutiny on police officers over the high cases of police brutality and alleged extrajudicial killings by the men in blue.
