Tragedy as Administration Police Officer shoots dead OCS in mistaken identity case

Nyandarua, Kenya: An Officer Commanding police Station (OCS) in Nyandarua North has been killed in an incident of mistaken identity while on duty.

The Ndaragwa Police Station OCS Harun Mwangombe was shot in the stomach by an Administration Police officer based in Ndaragwa AP post, while on patrol on Tuesday night.

He died while being taken to Kenyatta National Hospital at around 5 am on Wednesday.

According to an officer, who was in the company of the OCS, but not authorized to speak to the press, the OCS was in the company of others, who had laid an ambush, after a carjacking incident along Ndaragwa-Nyahururu road was reported.

Unknown to the regular police officer, their Administration Police colleagues had also laid a parallel ambush not knowing that the OCs and his colleagues were at the same scene.

The officer said that it was around 8.30 pm when the Administration police officers sighted the armed officers and thought they were the said robbers they were targeting.

"They started shooting at us several times despite us pleading with them. It is then that the OCS was shot in the stomach two times," said the officer.

He said that it was after a while that the Administration Police officers noticed that they were shooting at their colleagues.

"They realized that they were shooting at the wrong people when we identified ourselves as police officers from Ndaragwa Police Station. It was unfortunate that our colleague had already been shot at," he said.

The officer added that they rushed the OCS to Nyahururu Charity Medical clinic where he was admitted.

Doctors at the hospital, he said, tried to remove the bullets lodged in the officers body but were not successful and decided to refer him to Kenyatta National Hospital.

He, however, died at Naivasha on his way to KNH.

By the time of going to press, Nyandarua OCPD Benjamin Onsongo was still held up in a meeting with the District Security Committee over the matter.

Onsongo confirmed the shooting but promised to give full details on the incident later.