A young man was shot dead after allegedly charging at police officers while armed with a machete on Tuesday, February 2, in Likoni, Mombasa County.
The officers were reportedly on patrol when they received information that a gang armed with machetes and other crude weapons was terrorizing members of the public at Kidunguni area.
Sources indicated that the officers arrived at the scene and met 4 gang members, one of whom accosted them while armed. The suspect allegedly charged towards the officer as he defied calls to surrender, while the other escaped.
“The officers tried to warn him verbally, and even fired warning shots in the air, but he still charged ready to harm the officers,” read the police report.
The police later identified the deceased as a notorious criminal by the name Matano Masoud, a 17-year-old teenager whom police said had several pending cases.
However, his family has come out saying that the deceased was mentally ill and was under medication. The family has called upon IPOA to investigate the incident.
"They came in and asked him to open the door claiming they are police officers, he sad he was unable to open because he was unwell," his father said.
The scene was processed and the body moved to the Coast General Hospital Mortuary awaiting autopsy.
Earlier this year, Kenyans expressed their concerns over the rising cases of street gangs with others blaming the police for not being vigilant enough.
“I am not pro-murder, but I have to say this new crop of thugs have proved to be a menace and I would not lose sleep over the gunning down of such individuals,” said source.
Some of the residents noted that many attacks on residents orchestrated by gangs had gone unreported.
