NAIROBI, Kenya, Dec 7 – The Ministry of Interior has linked an incident in Nairobi’s Kabete area where a police officer killed his fiancé before turning the gun on himself to a love triangle.
Interior Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiangi Tuesday said an initial probe into the murder of the woman and five other people who the officer shoot at indiscriminately had shown the officer acted in the manner he did over suspicion that he had been cheated on.
Speaking during the commemoration service for Police and Prison Officers who have fallen in the line of duty at the APTC Embakasi, Matiangi said Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) and the Internal Affairs Unit of the National Police Service(NPS) were undertaking an active investigation on the matter and will keep the public updated.
“At the face value, from what I have been told by police officers, it looks like a love triangle gone horrific. We cannot make a final conclusion now as the investigations are still ongoing, but the victims will be profiled, information will be put together and we will get to the bottom of that problem,” Matiangi said
Matiangi called on religious leaders to pray for police officers, guide them and encourage them.
“Let us spend time with our officers especially the young ones and tell them that when frustrations come in life, turning the gun to yourself or other people is not a solution. You disagree with one man or woman, God has created plenty of those,” the Interior CS said.
The CS further urged the public to refrain from insensitive trivializing or politicizing the matter, pointing out that like any other members of society, Police and Prisons officers are prone to mental health challenges and other pressures including drugs and substance abuse
“We have built institutions over the years, painstakingly. We have institutions strong enough to deal with the challenges we are facing. It is however so painful to see how people trivialize a serious issue like that and yet we have a grave issue that we are dealing with,” Matiangi said.
The officer, identified as Benson Imbatu based in Kabete, is reported to have first shot his wife in the neck at their Heights Apartments house before he opened fire turning an AK47 rifle on people who rushed to help.
Police said those shot included two boda boda riders.
Kabete Police chief Francis Wahome said an investigation had been launched into the incident.
Wahome said preliminary investigations had shown that the couple had quarreled before the man picked up the gun and shot his wife Carol Imbatu.
Some of the victims succumbed to gunshot injuries in hospital.
“It is unfortunate that we have lost lives. We are investigating the incident to establish what happened,” Wahome said.
Locals in Kabete held demonstrations, blocking roads for several hours Tuesday in protest before they were dispersed.
According to the Directorate of Criminal Investigations, two other people sustained injuries during the shooting and were admitted to hospital.
“In the sad incident that occurred today at 3am, the cop gone rogue who was wielding an AK-47 assault riffle, also killed three young men and a boda boda rider within Kabete. The three men whose identities are yet to be established, were mourners who had just attended a funeral preparations meeting for one of their beloved at mountain view, before they were accosted by the rogue officer,” the DCI tweeted.
After killing the three, the DCI said, the cop then turned his rifle at two boda boda riders, one of whom died at the scene while another lost his life while undergoing treatment at the Kenyatta National Hospital.
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