Jevis Omollo, a 17-year-old student, succumbed to injuries on Wednesday after he was accidentally shot by the police.
Omollo, who is a form two student at Akala Secondary School in Nyatike, Migori County, was allegedly hit by a stray bullet in the stomach as police fired in the air in a bid to disperse an angry mob that had threatened to lynch a female suspect.
According to Ellar, an eye witness, the commotion started at the Wath Ong’er market after Migori county askaris arrested a woman suspected to be a thief.
The angry mob baying for the woman’s blood overpowered the county askaris and they had to call the police for assistance.
“The police arrived at the scene and started shooting in the air to scare the mob. Unfortunately, the 17-year-old was hit by a stray bullet fired by a police officer,” Ellar told The Standard.
According to Charles Okinyi, a relative of the deceased, Omollo was not among the rowdy mob as he was assisting his friend sell goods in the market.
“The boy was not in the rowdy crowd when he met his death; he was selling in the market. The stray bullet hit him in the stomach,” stated Okinyi.
He was rushed to one of the clinics in the market for first aid before being transferred to Migori Level Four Hospital but succumbed on the way.
The body was transferred to the mortuary of the same facility
Migori County Police Commander Joseph Nthenge, however, claimed that the boy was not killed by the police but rather by a stray bullet.
“It was a stray bullet, a stray bullet is not a police bullet, it was not aimed at anybody, it is just like an accident,” Nthenge insisted.
Nthenge assured that the police were investigating the incident.
