The Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) on Wednesday, May 31 stated that it had launched a probe into an incident where a minor was shot by police manning a roadblock in Tharaka Nithi County on Tuesday, May 30.
Detailing the incident, a senior police officer stated that police officers were tracking illegal aliens when they mounted a roadblock in a bid to corner them.
“There was intel that there was the movement of aliens moving in this area.
“Officers from Karani Police Post reacted and stopped cars on the road,” the police narrated.
Minutes before the shooting, they had stopped three cars as part of their search. The third car in the queue tried to evade the queue and this aroused the suspicion of the police.
“The third car jumped the roadblock and this caused the armed police officers to shoot the tyres in order to disable the car.
“One child inside the car was injured and was taken to a hospital in Marimanti who was treated and allowed to go home,” the police officer stated.
He assured the public that the DCI was investigating the circumstances that led to the shooting of the car.
Not isolated incident
The incident was similar to the shooting of famed Pakistani journalist Arshad Sharif in Kajiado, on October 23, 2022.
Officers had been informed of a missing person driving a stolen car. They mounted roadblocks in parts of Kajiado where they were told the suspect could have been.
According to the police, Sharif was in a car being driven by his brother when they encountered one of the police roadblocks. They defied instructions to stop leading the police to open fire on the car whereby one shot caught Sharif in the head.
The police described the incident as a case of mistaken identity. Sharif’s family members blamed senior Pakistani politicians and police officers for being involved in the incident. The matter remains unresolved.
