Police open fire on armed robbers raiding gas cylinder store

A police vehicle [File, Standard]

Police officers were forced to open fire on robbers raiding a store in Soy, Uasin Gishu county, on Sunday, November 20, after the robbers tried to attack them with machetes.

According to a statement by the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI), the police were tipped off that a gang of robbers was stealing gas cylinders at a store in Soy, at around 2am.

The police rushed to the scene of incident and ordered the robbers, who had locked themselves inside the store, to get out.

"But the robbers defied the orders prompting the officers to push the door in an attempt to open it.

"The determined robbers pushed the door from inside in retaliation, prompting a push and pull contest that lasted for some minutes before the thugs finally ran out of steam and the officers stormed inside," reads the statement by DCI.

DCI says an altercation ensued after the police tried to arrest the suspects, hence, the melee.

"Two of the suspects attacked the officers with machetes prompting one of the officers to open fire at the thugs and immobilized one of them," said the statement by DCI.

The injured suspect is currently admitted at the Moi Teaching and Referral hospital under tight security.

Unfortunately, the other robbers who were about five in number, managed to escape. They, however, did not make away with any goods.