DCI Gun Down 22-Yr-Old Gang Boss After Chase Towards Thika Road

Detectives from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) based at Starehe on Wednesday morning, January 4 gunned down a notorious thug who was the head of a gang trying to take over Mathare and its environs.

The DCI revealed that this followed the annihilation of the infamous Katombi gang that was completely wiped out from the area in 2022.

Charles Gitau Mwangi alias Baroda, 22, who had been on the detectives’ radar for the past few weeks was fatally wounded in a barrage of gunfire after he defied orders to surrender and attacked one of the detectives.

"The detectives who were responding to distress calls of Uuuuuwi! Uuuuuwi! Wezi! Ndio hao! from distressed members of the public went after ‘Baroda’ and two of his accomplices at breakneck speed, with the thumping of their boots pounding against the ground grudgingly as they breathed down the suspects' neck," stated the DCI in part.

The thugs were escaping from a crime scene at Mlango Kubwa, where they had attacked a woman headed to work at around 8 am and took away her mobile phone and other valuables leaving her wailing in anguish. 

"After jumping over a few puddles of stagnant water as the thugs headed towards Muthaiga bridge, the battle-hardened crime busters credited for ridding Mathare, Huruma and Pangani of criminal gangs, hastened Baroda’s appointment with his creator, after he defied orders to surrender and turned on the officers with a homemade firearm capable of firing and a dagger," added the DCI.

"This is after he turned on the officer leading the charge closely behind him and opened fire missing his head by a whisker,  prompting the officer to return fire and stop the shenanigans with finality!"

The deceased’s accomplices had narrowly escaped the onslaught with bullet injuries, with the detectives hot on their heels in the pursuit of justice. 

Meanwhile, a firearm capable of firing, two rounds of 9mm calibre, a knife and the stolen mobile phone were recovered from the fallen suspect.

The incident came amidst concerns from members of the public regarding a resurgence in crimes in Nairobi, with the last quarter of 2022 so prevalent that it prompted the government to take stern action.

Various measures were implemented to curb the menace including reorganising the Nairobi Police administration and officers from the General Service Unit (GSU) and the Rapid Deployment Unit (RDU) deployed to Nairobi by order of President William Ruto.

An aerial view of Mathare slums. /SOCIAL DOCUMENTARY NETWORK