A police officer shot his two colleagues before shooting himself in the mouth at Nyamira Police Station on Tuesday.
The officer is said to have accosted his two seniors at the entrance of the Administration Police quarters where he wantonly opened fire on them.
A report in the Station’s Occurrence Book by Deputy Critical Infrastructure Protection Unit (CIPU) Nyamira Sub-County Chief Inspector Bernard Too stated that the officer, who was identified as Julius Mdachi, had resisted the transfer of duty from the Governor’s residence.
AP Constable Julius Mdachi, who shot his two seniors after resisting redeployment from the Nyamira Governor's residence. [Stanley Ongwae, Standard]
According to the report, the two seniors were talking to the junior over the disagreement that arose due to the reorganisation of duty before he cocked the gun and started shooting.
“It is alleged that Constable Mdachi was dissatisfied with the impending redeployment and was bitter about it,” read part of the signal that was transmitted to Vigilance House, the Police Headquarters in Nairobi.
Those who were shot were Chief Inspector Nicanor Odhiambo, who is the Sub-county CIPU Commander, and Sergeant Amani Ali, who is in charge of the duty roster.
Ali died at the Nyamira County Hospital where he and Odhiambo had been rushed for emergency treatment following serious gunshot wounds they sustained.
Odhiambo is fighting for his life at the Kisii Teaching and Referral Hospital where he was transferred to with bullets still lodged in his right thigh.
The report indicated that after the shooting that happened at the AP Line, where most CIPU officers live, the assailant also shot himself with the AK47 rifle on the lower chin with the bullet exiting through the right jaw.
The incident happened Tuesday evening at around 6pm when the officers on the night shift were moving to their areas of duty.
Nyamira sub-county Police Commander Moses Kirong could not comment on anything regarding the incident but promised to give an update later in the day.
Bodaboda riders take Chief Inspector Nicanor Odhiambo to Nyamira County Hospital after fellow policemen failed to respond in time to the emergency. [Stanley Ongwae, Standard]
The death of the second officer has been widely blamed on lack of swift emergency response after the shooting happened with officers who were present at the AP camp taking long to rush the officer to the county hospital which is about 200 meters away from the AP line.
Instead, it took bodaboda riders and traders from the nearby Nyamira main stage to carry the officers to the hospital.
At the hospital, a nurse on duty who attended to Ali said the officer died from excessive loss of blood from the multiple gunshot wounds he sustained in his lower limbs.
