A police officer shot and killed his colleague and injured another one in an altercation at a bar in Gigiri, Nairobi, on Sunday night.,
The three were among a group in a bar at the Gigiri police lines when they disagreed on Sunday.
The assailant
officer attached to Parliament reached out to his pistol and fired shots at his
colleagues, killing one.
A second
officer sustained serious wounds and was rushed to hospital in serious
condition.
Witnesses
said the group was having food and drinks when the altercation broke out, leading to the shooting.
Some of
those present scampered for their safety before other colleagues arrived and
disarmed the shooting officer, police said.
Police authorities
termed the incident isolated and vowed justice for the victims.
Nairobi police
commander George Sedah said the assailant officer is in custody and will be
interrogated as part of the probe into the issue.
“We don’t
know what led to the unfortunate incident, but he is in custody pending further
action,” he said.
Officials
say such shooting incidents could be linked to mental issues that are prevalent
in the service.
Last month, a police officer shot and killed a colleague in a similar confrontation outside a bar in the Ruaraka area, Nairobi.
A Nairobi court on March 4 ordered the police officer arrested for the killing of his colleague and was detained at Ruaraka police station for seven days pending completion of investigations.
Through a miscellaneous application, the Directorate of Criminal Investigations sought to detain Police Constable Kipkoech Tarus for 14 days.
Tarus, an officer attached to the VIP protection, is suspected of having shot dead Raphael Kimuli Wambua, who was attached to the Central Bank of Kenya.
Tarus allegedly shot and killed Wambua on February 21 using his pistol.
Wambua was walking home with his brother, Police Constable Erick Ngolania, when they were confronted by Tarus, who shot the deceased.
Milimani chief magistrate Lucas Onyina allowed the application, saying it was merited.
The police wanted Tarus detained, arguing they were yet to subject the murder weapon to forensic analysis.
Police constable Suleiman Mwatajiri of Starehe DCI said they needed the time to complete investigations, including interrogating the suspect and recording his statement to support the investigations.
He said an identification parade was yet to be conducted and that Tarus was likely to interfere with potential witnesses, given that he is a police officer.
Other areas of investigation include forwarding the spent cartridges collected at the scene together with the firearm to the DCI headquarters for examination by ballistic experts, recording statements of prosecution witnesses and escorting the suspect for mental assessment at Mama Lucy Kibaki Hospital.
Onyina agreed with the application, saying there was no doubt the respondent was being investigated for murder and that he had been assaulted by members of the public after the incident.
He said police were free to take the suspect to the hospital for psychiatric tests.
The matter was set for mention on March 11.
Following the shooting, Tarus was reportedly subjected to mob justice by members of the public before being rescued by officers from Ruaraka Police Station.
As part of efforts to address the trend, police authorities have launched counselling services, and the National Police Service Commission has established a unit and staffed it to attend to their demanding situation.
The counselling unit, among other things,
evaluates, designs and leads an outreach programme that helps prevent mental
health and substance abuse
Officials say police
are generally on the receiving end of all community problems.
They are expected to maintain law and order in very difficult situations, besides putting their lives at risk.
Over the years, a spike in deaths in the service
has been linked to trauma.
