Six shot dead in Ruiru botched robbery

Nairobi, Kenya: Six suspected thugs were Thursday night shot dead by police in a botched robbery in Membley area, along Ruiru-Kahawa West by-pass in Nairobi.

The men were in a saloon car when police who had been trailing struck on Thursday night. One of the men who had an AK-47 rifle escaped after he shot and damaged a police car, police said.

Officers from Special Crimes Prevention Unit said they had been pursuing information the men were planning to erect an illegal road block and rob motorists when the confrontation started at about 9pm.

According to witnesses, police had to use a sniffer dog to flush out one suspect who had dashed and hid in a nearby thicket and later shot him as he escaped.

Head of the unit Noah Katumo said the gang had traffic police uniforms that they have been using to terrorise locals.

“They have been terrorising locals and motorists robbing them of cash and valuables. They were killed in a fire exchange with police,” he said.

Apart from the uniforms, police also found a pistol that had six bullets on the slain men.  The bodies were later taken to the mortuary.