It Was Not A Sniper- DCI Boss On Bullet That Killed Lilian Waithera
However, he maintained that the NHIF employee could have been targeted, adding that they were following more leads...
Marvin Chege 
The Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) boss, Mohammed Amin, ruled out initial reports that the bullet found in Lilian Waithera's chest was from a sniper gun.
Addressing the media on Tuesday, February 21, Amin stated that ballistic reports indicated that the National Health Insurance Fund (NHIF) employee was shot using a pistol.
Giving intrigues of the weapon, he noted that the sniper would typically use a long barrel for accuracy purposes compared to a pistol.
Image of a pistol. /FILE
"The bullet head recovered was nine millimetres. That is a pistol. Obviously, they are there are various suspicions that perhaps could there be snipers, but from my experience, I would say that that was not the work of a sniper.
"Snipers ordinarily will use rifles with longer barrels for purposes of accuracy and the shorter the barrel the lesser the accuracy, the longer the barrel the more the accuracy. So if a sniper indeed wanted to eliminate, then they would not have opted to use a pistol for that matter," he stated.
However, he maintained that the NHIF employee could have been targeted, adding that they were following more leads.
The DCI boss further noted that the shot from the pistol could not have been heard at the time of the shooting owing to the noise at the crime scene.
As for the suspect, Julius Kimani Mwangi, who was arrested in Kenol, Murang'a County, he was released, given that the bullet was not fired from his gun.
Amin further noted that they were reviewing CCTV footage, interviewing witnesses, and conducting forensic examinations of the crime scene to establish what may have transpired on Monday, February 13 at 5.13 pm.
"We got intelligence that the suspect was around Muindi Mbingu Street while armed with a firearm. The pistol was recovered from him for analysis. The pistol was not indeed the one that fired the pistol used," he stated.
The DCI urged anyone with information about the incident to come forward to help in the investigation.
Waithera had collapsed and died as she was walking home in the company of her colleagues on the fateful day from the Upperhill area.
CCTV footage showed Waithera, dressed in a black sweater, walking alongside her colleague Damaris Achieng' as they passed a bank along Kaunda Street in Nairobi Central Business District (CBD) at 5.12 pm.
Moments later, the duo crossed to the other side of the street, but Waithera was startled as she walked past an eyeglasses shop, as was Achieng' and they remained standing momentarily.
Waithera was then pulled to the roadside where she collapsed at the parking zone designated for a local insurance company between two vehicles.
The post-mortem report indicated that the bullet caused a 23-centimetre wound on her left chest and excess haemorrhage from the left lung, leading to her death.
Portrait photo of the late Lilian Waithera. /KELXFY
