Police probe how officer was shot dead out of his duty area

The suspect started shooting at the officers as soon as they arrived at his house. [iStockphoto]

Last Monday at around seven minutes to midnight, two police officers from Nairobi’s Makadara Police Division stormed the house of a suspect in Kamae area of Kahawa West.

The police operation was aimed at either arresting a man described as a known criminal and possibly recover a firearm.

One of the officers was police sergeant Grevious Otsieno (now deceased) from Lunga Lunga police station.

He was in the company of his junior officer from the neighbouring Industrial area police station.

The two police stations are near each other and officers serving in them report to different police station commanders.

The two officers who were both in a civilian car and clothes, had travelled for over 20 kilometers from their stations of work for the unspecified operation.

It is after raiding the rented house of the suspect that the officers came under attack by the suspect whom they were trailing.

A report on the incident from Kahawa West police station to Vigilance House stated that it took the intervention of officers from Kahawa Police Station and Kasarani Police to save the situation.

According to the report, the suspect started shooting at the officers as soon as they arrived at his house.

There was a fierce gun fight. The report said the police sergeant was confirmed dead at the scene while his colleague had suffered a gunshot wound in his left shoulder.

The injured officer is currently admitted to a Nairobi hospital where he is receiving treatment for gunshot wounds.

Officers from the two police stations managed to contain the situation.

In the end, the suspected criminal was dead, a police officer killed and another one seriously injured.

Police say a 20-year-old female suspect has since been arrested and is helping with investigations.

But even as Kasarani DCI interrogate the suspect on the shooting, questions have emerged on the nature of the police operation and what could have gone wrong on the fateful night.

Officers at the Kahawa West police station who spoke to The Standard claim the officers from Makadara ignored basic police procedures before embarking on the night operation.

According to the officers, the Makadara counterparts did not report their presence to the local police as per the standard operating procedures.

The Police Service Standing orders require that an officer moving out his place of work to a different jurisdiction should inform the local police of their presence.

It has also emerged that the two officers did not inform their superiors of the planned operation. The Standard learnt that Sgt Otsieno was supposed to be off duty.