Senior police officer shot dead, three injured by suspected bandits in Samburu

A senior police officer was on Tuesday evening shot dead by suspected bandits in Marti area of Samburu north.

The officer was leading a team that was pursuing cattle rustlers who had stolen 50 head of cattle in Suiyan village on Monday.

Three other officers were injured in the attack.

According to Samburu County police commander Karanja Muiruri, the inspector attached to Marti police station had led a successful team to rescue two children aged 10 and 15, along with their livestock, when they ran into an ambush.

"They had successfully rescued the children and were in the process of recovering other stolen animals when they were ambushed," he said.

Officers recovering

Samburu County referral hospital medical superintendent Silas Lodeke said three police officers were recovering at the hospital.

"One of them is nursing a gunshot wound on the arm while the other suffered shock due to the ordeal, but is now in stable condition," Lodeke said.

Three police officers were in April last year among four people killed by bandits while five others were injured in an ambush by cattle rustlers in Samburu East Constituency.

The officers were tracking down stolen animals when they were ambushed.

In November 2012, more than 40 police officers and reservists were killed in the same area in another ambush by rustlers.