A police officer based in Lokori police station in Turkana County was fatally wounded by a suspect as he was responding to a murder incident.
According to a police report at the station under OB Number /08/09/2021, police officers had responded to a murder incident in Lotubae sub-location after two youth had engaged in a bruising scuffle.
As the police officers, accompanied by DCI detectives based in Turkana East, rushed to the scene, they found that the suspect, armed with a sword, had locked himself inside a house.
The officers ordered the suspect to surrender but he declined and eventually came out wielding his sword. One officer attempted to subdue him but the sly suspect managed to discharge the officer's AK-47 rifle.
He fired several rounds which hit two police officers, one on the left leg and the other officer on the right side of the chest.
The latter, however, succumbed to his injuries as he was being rushed to hospital. The officer hit on the left leg, was treated and referred to Lodwar County Referral Hospital for more specialised treatment.
According to the police report, the suspect is in custody and awaiting arraignment. The bodies of both the officer and the first victim were taken to Lodwar Referral hospital morgue awaiting postmortem.
The rising cases of insecurity in the Northern region have been linked to high number of guns in the hands of cattle rustlers and bandits.
"Proliferation of illegal firearms here is very high and almost every family owns several guns, which they are using to wreak havoc. This is not a jungle. We want to restore normalcy once and for all," stated Rift Valley Commander, George Natembeya.
