Suspect in DPP car attack shot dead

By Cyrus Ombati

One of the gunmen believed to have attacked the official car of Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Keriako Tobiko in Nairobi's Karen area in an attempted robbery has been shot dead.

Police say they tracked down the suspect to his hideout in Kibera slums on Saturday evening and gunned him down as he tried to escape. His two other accomplices managed to escape in the shootout.

A combined team of detectives from Lang’ata and Kilimani police divisions were pursuing the suspects following intelligence reports they were behind the attack and many others that have occurred in the area.

Lang’ata CID boss James Manuni said the slain suspect was the main mastermind of the gang that operates on the road and they had reports indicating he was involved in the attack on the DPP’s car Monday March 9.

"The deceased is a main suspect in the DPP’s case and many others that have been reported in the area. We are pursuing three others who are on the run," he said.

He added they believe the motive of the attack was for the gang to make quick money.

During the attack the bodyguard and driver who were on board managed to jump out and engage the gang in a shootout. The DPP was not on board at the time of the shooting as he had been dropped in office few minutes earlier.

Police and the DPP's crew said the gunmen were armed with an AK47 at the time of the attack. The car's window was shattered in the incident that happened along Ngong Road by-pass. The bodyguard shot seven times at the gang of four in attempts to repulse them.

According to a report made at the Lang’ata police station, the administration police officers were driving to Tobiko's home on Monday at 3.15pm when the driver heard gunshots forcing him to stop.

It was then that he saw a gunman pointing a rifle at him before the bodyguard who was on the co-driver's seat went for his gun and attacked him first.

He then jumped out of the vehicle and engaged them in a shootout before they vanished into the bush.

AP commandant Kinuthia Mbugua was also attacked in the same place few months earlier before his escort repulsed the gang, police say.

Officers who attended the scene said they collected two spent cartridges of an AK47 rifle including an unspent one.

The scene of the attack is notorious with gunmen attacking motorists especially weekends and at night.

Tobiko on Sunday, said he was yet to be informed of the latest development but encouraged police to get to the bottom of the attack and those behind it