Culprit snatches gun from female police officer in Eldoret

A man on Wednesday attempted to snatch a gun from an Administration Police officer guarding a business premise in Eldoret town.

CCTV footage showed the man seated next to Sergeant Mercy Kipchumba outside the entrance to Kenya Power offices before he grabbed her MP5 sub-machine gun and attempted to shoot her.

Eldoret West OCPD Zakaria Bitok said the assailant had posed as a customer before the grab attempt, adding that he struggled with the officer before making his escape on a waiting motorcycle.

“The incident took place at 11 am outside the office and it happened so fast. A middle aged man was standing seemingly undecided whether to enter the premises. Suddenly, he grabbed the fire-arm from the female officer,” said John Njuguna a businessman in Eldoret.

Njuguna added that he had to run for his life after the man grabbed the firearm from the officer and tried to fire in the air.

“When I saw the officer who is familiar to us struggling I knew that our lives were in danger,” he said.

According to a police report, the individual managed to grab the MP-5 rifle loaded with 20 rounds from sergeant Mercy Kipchumba who was on duty guarding the premise alone.

“From our investigation, the man was in company of two people and were on a gateway motorcycle. The good thing is that the firearm was not taken away from the officer after she engaged the suspect in a struggle. During the incident, the magazine of the riffle fell as the robber was attempting to shoot the officer, he later dropped the firearm and escaped using a motorcycle,” read part of the report.

The OCPD called on officers to be on high alert, saying the incident is an indicator that culprits are looking for firearms.

“We are glad nobody was injured in the incident. Our region has been calm since the start of the year and it seems that criminals are determined to snatch arms from our officers so that they can engage in crime which will not succeed,” said Mr. Bitok.