Police Deny Killing Two Suspected Robbers In Murang'a

Police on Tuesday, March 14 denied claims that two bank robbery suspects were shot dead by police officers who held them in custody hours after staging a robbery at a Sacco's branch in Murang'a County.

Speaking to the press, Central Regional Commissioner Fredrick Shishia maintained that the suspects were killed after police were caught in a shootout between them and a gang believed to be attached to the suspects.

This is contrary to reports by, among other security agencies, the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI), which revealed that the two were victims of extra-judicial killings.

Central Regional Commissioner Fredrick Shishia. /CITIZEN TV

According to Shishia, the officers had pounced on the suspects in Kigumo, Murang'a County on the fateful day while emerging from a forest.

He added that the suspects were in possession of a bag carrying money which was suspected to have been part of the amount stolen from the raid of a bank in Murang'a on Saturday, March 11.

"The officers insisted that they show them where the firearms were and in the process, they had to go back to the forest to assist the officers to trace because they confided in the officers that they knew where the firearms were and they were inside the forest.

"Unfortunately as the officers were moving in the thicket looking for the possible position where the firearms may have been hidden, they were met by gunfire and this is what prompted the officers to take cover and engage the other group...and it is in the process that the suspects were fatally injured," Shishia said.

While denying claims that police officers were responsible for the death of the suspects, Shishia noted that the two suspects dropped their guns in their retreat from the gunfire of police officers, guns which were later paraded and photos were taken for sharing by the DCI on social media.

The Commissioner further called upon members of the public to be patient as oversight agencies continued with investigations into the matter. 

"Let them carry out investigations and what will come out will be a matter of public information," he added.

The two, who were part of a gang of six thieves who raided the Sacco's branch on Saturday, March 11, were cornered at their hideout in Kigumo which the DCI stated was crawling with wild animals.

"Yesterday, the thugs had staged a robbery at a Sacco in Mununga branch, within Kigumo town, where they made away with an unknown amount of money after disarming a police officer and taking possession of his G3 rifle," stated the agency in part.

The marauding gang of six that had been on police radar had on February 25, 2023, wrestled an AK-47 rifle loaded with 14 rounds of ammunition from a police officer on patrol within the Muthithi area, which they used in the robbery incident. 

In a joint operation by officers from Murang’a county backed up by an elite team from the Crime Research and Intelligence Bureau, the officers combed the Kinyona forest before coming across the two who challenged them to a duel.

However, the report by the DCI was questioned by a Kenyan who tasked the sleuths to explain why they deleted the images of the dead suspects after another one surfaced at the same time.

As a result of the uproar, the Independent Police Oversight Authority (IPOA) launched investigations into the incident, with its initial probe placing police officers among those involved in the killings.