Five shot dead over carjacking

The vehicle which was traced and recovered during a shootout near Kasarani Sports Complex in Nairobi, August 22, 2010. Photo/STEPHEN MUDIARI
By FRED MUKINDA fmukinda@ke.nationmedia.com
Posted Sunday, August 22 2010 at 22:29
In Summary

Chronology: Recent incidents of police shooting

August 17: Police shot dead three men in Kiambu. They were believed to have been part of a gang that had killed a slum dweller.
August 9: Detectives kill five suspected gangsters in Kirinyaga.
July 17: A man is gunned down and three others arrested at Maumau bridge in Kangemi.

Police on Sunday gunned down five men whom they had followed for hours over a carjacking.

They were killed near Nairobi's Kasarani sports complex at around 3pm.

Police said the men had carjacked Mr Wilfred Kamau at 8pm the previous night, robbed him and took off in his car.

They were using the vehicle when police caught up with them.

Mr Kamau was called to the scene after the shooting and identified one of those killed.

A second victim was found with a Kenya Army identity card, whose authenticity police said they were yet to establish.

“It was around 8.30 at night. I was being accompanied by my wife to Waithaka shopping centre to buy medicine when two men appeared and pointed a gun at me,” Mr Kamau said.

They took charge of the vehicle and drove to Karinde, where they abandoned the couple after robbing them of an ATM card and Sh25,000.

They also took Mr Kamau’s driving licence, which was found in the car after the shooting.

Kasarani police boss Leonard Omolo said his officers used tracking technology to find the vehicle.

“A tracking gadget was fixed in the car and the company that installed it informed us that the vehicle was around the Ruaraka area.

“Its registration number plate had not been changed and so it was easy to identify it,” he said.