Police officer shot dead after bus hijacked on Thika Road

A section of the Thika Superhighway next to Ruaraka area. A police officer was shot dead by thugs who hijacked a bus he was travelling in on April 28, 2018. PHOTO | FILE | NATION MEDIA GROUP

What you need to know:

  • Police said the officer was not able to act fast enough to defend himself and other passengers.

  • Incident took place after two of the gangsters boarded the bus at Garden City Mall stage.
  • After hijacking bus was driven to Ruiru Kimbo, then towards Baba Dogo and Outer Ring Road.
  • The five thugs escaped on foot and robbing the passengers.

A police officer attached to the Ruaraka Police Station in Nairobi was on Friday night shot dead by hijackers and his firearm stolen.

The officer was riding in a Neo Kenya Mpya bus that was heading to Thika town when five gangsters hijacked the vehicle.

When one of the thugs found his gun as they ransacked the passengers, he stabbed him before snatching it, and then shot him with it.

Police said the officer was not able to act fast enough to defend himself and other passengers.

The incident took place after two of the gangsters boarded the bus at Garden City Mall stage to join three others who had boarded it in the city.

The bus was driven all the way to Ruiru Kimbo then towards Baba Ndogo area and on Outer Ring Road.

The thugs stopped the bus at the National Concrete Bridge underpass where they alighted and escaped on foot.

It was then the person driving the bus alighted before another man stood up claiming he was the real driver and that he had been forced out of his seat by the thugs.

Two other passengers who were stabbed during the hijacking are being treated at the MSF clinic on Juja Road and are in a stable condition.

The driver of the bus and his conductor have been detained and are helping police with investigations.

This is the latest killing of a police officer in the city in a month. Another officer was last month shot dead as he walked to work in Dandora and robbed of his gun.