Kenyan AP shoots 10 dead in pursuit of love

By MOSES NJAGI and MUNENE KAMAU

He was on night duty at a sentry box at the District Commissioner's residence when he got the news his woman was painting Siakago town red with his colleague(s).

The whole one-man operation took 20 minutes and left the town in Mbeere District soaking in blood and tears, and it turned out the death toll would have been higher had he not run out of bullets.

It is said the uniformed officer had ten bullets and none was wasted. Neither were there missed targets, as the ‘possessed’ man appeared to be brutally efficient with a G3 rifle.

What was even more shocking was that whereas his estranged girlfriend appeared to like her glass of beer, Constable Peter Karanja was a teetotaler.

Heard gun shots

The lady he was seeking was named Florence Marigu, and they were only three APs working at the time outside Mbeere North DC Joshua Chelimo’s residence. Some of those who heard the gunshots thought they were Diwali fireworks.

When his smoking gun fell silent and with no more to kill, it struck him he had not spared bullets to kill himself after the orgy. And his real target (in red) was spared. Picture/Standard

It is not clear if what he was told was true or hilarious lies friends often tease each other with. But at around 11:30pm on Saturday, he excused himself to answer a call of nature.

But he walked down the dimly lit streets for a kilometer, to the seedy bars where many must have been drunk and probably even disorderly if not engaged in incomprehensible conversations, probably about football, politics or men and women.

At the three bars he walked into, he just asked for his woman and whatever answer he received, he responded by pulling the trigger at those inside — starting with the barmaid, who probably had seen him in happier days cavorting with the woman he was seeking, and in whose name he was killing at a corner in her bar.

When his smoking gun fell silent, with no more to kill, and having emptied his bullet box at two of his colleagues who responded to the gunshots, it struck him he had not spared bullets to kill himself after the orgy.

Surrendered himself

He then surrendered himself to officers, with whom he would ordinarily be working to keep the peace.

The story of the ten innocent deaths would then spread across the small town like bush fire and the linchpin being speculation over who the mystery woman the bachelor officer was madly in love with.

They marvelled at the fact he did not find her, and mourned their dead even as they concluded with a sense of cruel relief she too might have crumbled in death behind his hail of bullets.

Spine-chilling

It seemed fate spared her and his love so that they could tell the story of one of Kenya’s most complicated and spine-chilling relationships, over which ten fresh graves will be dug up in various corners of Kenya.

The full horror of the killings was discernible from the fact that there were no injuries reported, just deaths, — meaning he did not miss his innocent targets.

He probably just steadied his hands as trained to do when he had to take up his gun to defend himself, Kenyans and their property, and pulled the trigger. Among those he sent to early graves were four men seated at a corner drinking, oblivious of the angel of death closing in.

When he walked in, they probably thought it was a patrol cop wanting to buy a cigarette or gulp down a glass of liquor to ‘kill’ the night’s cold.

His presence may have for a passing moment given them a sense of security — that police on patrol were around. But the gun turned at them, blazing as they probably had only seen in Hollywood movies — and in seconds, they were still; killed by the gun and hand that was supposed to protect them.

"He has not talked and the motive is not clear," Chelimo told journalists.

But Mr Charles Owino, deputy spokesman, told Reuters: "He went from one bar to another and was shooting indiscriminately. Apparently, he was looking for his girlfriend after he left duty."

His first stop at a beer garden, specialising in second generation brews was a joint christened Coconut Bar.

In full uniform and rifle in hand, he stood at the entrance and asked where the lady was. A waiter who cared to respond that she was not at the facility became his first casualty; shot in the head, as other revellers scampered away to safety.

The officer then pulled his trigger a second and third time, killing two other people, one of them another barmaid.

With three down, the constable moved to Wakyai Bar, where many patrons had left for the night, but there were a few drinking inside. "Fungua, fungua, mimi ni polisi," (open the door. I am an officer) shouted Karanja, pretending he was on patrol.

The bar attendant opened the door unaware death had knocked. Karanja pumped bullets into his chest, killing him instantly.

But it was at the third spot, a bar called Club The Shrek, that he exhibited his worst fury. Behaving like a bloodhound, he shot at two APs, who had allegedly walked out of the bar after they heard his earlier gunshots.

Patrons who were inside fled as the barman rushed to close the door where the lone gunman stood after executing the two officers. The barman was too late to shut him out.

Meanwhile, 12 people managed to hide in pit latrines at the back of the bar. As it were, their quick action saved them from death. Six revelers were not as lucky, as by then, Karanja had walked in, gun blazing. One by one, he shot five men dead before engaging the last person — a woman — in a short conversation.

Those who hid in the latrines said they heard a woman who they identified as Ng’endo pleading with the officer to spare her life as she had a young child to take care of. She did not convince him.

In a split second, her lifeless body lay by the side of four men who were in her company.

Rashid Kinyua, who took cover in the latrine, said the gunman was a known figure in the township, where he had worked for two years. Another witness claimed he rushed to the police station, 200m from the scene of killings, and alerted officers.

"But he only asked me what weapon the gunman was carrying. Since I did not know, I went home," said Michael Njeru.

A guard at a local financial institution allegedly called the station, but there was no response. Marigu survived because it is said she fled when informed he was looking for her. He surrendered himself at Siakago Police Station with his weapon.

In the morning irate residents stormed the police station baying for Karanja’s blood.

They also wanted to know why it took Chelimo and area police chief Jecinta Odhiambo long to address them. Karanja was transferred to the Embu Provincial CID officers for further interrogation.

Five men, three women and APs went down as his victims, and today, their relatives are mourning their sad loss.