Police in Kitui have launched a manhunt for an officer believed to have fatally shot two women, including his alleged girlfriend, at a bar in Kanyonyoo market on Sunday night.
The suspect, attached to the Kanyonyoo Police Station in Yata, Kitui County, is said to have fled the scene with an AK-47 rifle issued to him earlier that evening.
According to preliminary investigations, the officer had a disagreement with one of the women, Joy Mutisya, said to be his lover, before drawing his service weapon and shooting her dead. Eyewitnesses say the altercation escalated quickly, shocking patrons at the bar.
The second woman, believed to be a friend of the first victim, was shot moments later as she reportedly attempted to intervene. Both women died on the spot, and the officer is said to have immediately fled the scene, sparking panic in the area.
Mutisya sought refuge in a nearby plot but was pursued by the officer, who shot and killed her inside the house of a woman identified as Janet Ndanu. He also shot another woman, Judy, whose full name and age were yet to be confirmed.
“The incident happened around 10pm while the officer was in the company of the two women. They had a disagreement before all hell broke loose,” said Vincent Nadmuki, a resident of Kanyonyoo.
Residents expressed outrage over the incident, saying it was the latest in a string of violent confrontations involving members of the police service.
They accused the police of failing to adequately address internal disciplinary issues and called for immediate action.
“This is not the first time we are witnessing such brutality. How many more lives must be lost before something is done?” questioned another local resident.
They also condemned the incident, terming it another worrying case of extrajudicial violence involving police officers, and called for a speedy investigation and arrest of the suspect.
By Monday morning, law enforcement officers had launched a multi-agency search operation to locate the fugitive officer. Senior officers from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) in Lower Yatta and Kitui visited the scene, where they recovered three spent cartridges of 7.62mm special ammunition.
The bodies were taken to Kitui Level Five Hospital mortuary pending postmortem examinations.
