Police officer kills himself after shooting a civilian in Nairobi

Police officer takes his own life after injuring civilian in Nairobi incident. [Standard,file]

A police officer shot himself dead after injuring a civilian in Airway, Utawala in Nairobi, on Thursday.

The officer, identified as Ezra Ouma, had called his station commander and threatened to kill himself before the incident.

The commander rushed to his house and found out that he had been taken to Modern Komarock Hospital by neighbours.

However, he was pronounced dead on arrival after shooting himself in the chin, according to a police report.

The scene was visited by senior officers from Ruai and Kayole police stations. They also established that Ouma had shot a 35-year-old man, Philip Muhavi Ayieka, on the left foot.

A Beretta pistol with 12 rounds of ammunition and one empty cartridge was recovered from the scene.

The motive of the shooting is not yet known and no suicide note was found.

The body of the officer was taken to Kenyatta University mortuary pending postmortem.

The civilian was taken to a nearby hospital for treatment.

The Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) officers from Athi River East have launched investigations into the matter.