The Independent Policing Oversight Authority (IPOA) has launched investigations after a 20-year old man was shot dead by a police officer in a police station on Saturday, July 31.
Brian Munene was allegedly shot by an officer attached to Majira police post in Maara sub-county, Tharaka Nithi.
Munene was working at the police post, serving a non-custodial sentence. He was shot in the head under unclear circumstances at around noon on Saturday.
Chogoria police station commander Boniface Kiilu assured the residents that investigations had been launched.
“The IPOA and DCI officers arrived at the scene before the body was collected and will definitely investigate and reveal the truth on what exactly happened,” he said.
Members of the public stormed the police post in search of the police officer who allegedly shot Munene. They further threatened to burn down the police post.
They refuted claims by the accused police officer that Munene, who was cutting grass in the compound, had threatened to attack him with a machete.
Majira residents barricaded Meru-Chogoria road with logs and hurled stones at police officers demanding that the body remain at the scene until the officer involved was shown to them.
Police had lob teargas to disperse the charging crowd so that they could collect the deceased's body and take it to Chuka County Referral Hospital mortuary.
Chogoria Member of County Assembly (MCA) Margaret Gitari stated that the police officer intended to kill Munene.
“It’s very clear that the intention of the officer was to kill the young man. That is why he shot him in the head,” the legislator lamented.
She however asked the public to keep calm and await the outcome of the investigation.
Munene adds to the list of Kenyans who have mysteriously died in police stations. In July, a thirty-year-old man under police custody for flaunting curfew rules died under mysterious circumstances in a Pangani Police Station cell.
