Protests broke out along Outering Road on Tuesday, July 25, after angry youth barricaded the road during a confrontation with police officers over the killing of one resident in the area.
Multiple sources confirmed to Kenyans.co.ke that police officers were dispatched to the area to flush out suspects accused of stealing from the residents and motorists.
The operation, however, turned deadly after the youth resisted the mission and pelted the officers with stones.
In retaliation, the detectives opened fire to disperse the rowdy mob. A youth was fatally shot in the process.
Enraged by the turn of events, the protesters responded by barricading Outering Road and lighting bonfires to block motorists.
The sources revealed that the enraged youth set a house on fire reportedly belonging to a police informant who resided in the area.
The scuffle resulted in a traffic snarl-up that lasted for hours. Other affected areas included Huruma, Juja Road, Allsops and Kariobangi roundabout.
At the time of publishing this article, the stalemate between the police and the youth was still ongoing.
Videos that circulated online showed smoke billowing in the area as vehicles plying the route diverted to avoid the road.
"Avoid Outering Road at Kiamaiko. There are demos. Police are dispersing the crowd with teargas. What is going on?" a user posed on Twitter.
Interior CS Kithure Kindiki had warned against perpetrators of violent protests, noting that police officers would be deployed to deter any form of chaos.
"Weeks ago, we wanted to see if Kenyans can conduct peaceful protests. But three hours later, a lot of damage was done in various parts of the country and by the time we deployed police, it was too late."
"That is last week. We decided we are not going to the same criminals to do the same. We will remain firm," he stated.
