Police, civilian shot and wounded as officers exchange fire in Thika Town

NAIROBI: A police officer and pedestrian were at the weekend injured in a shooting involving police officers in Thika Town.

The injured officer was in a group of three from Nanyuki DCI office and had come to Thika Saturday to arrest suspects in a car theft probe.

Officials said the team from Nanyuki went and informed Thika Officer Commanding Station they were pursuing two suspects over a case of stealing of a car.

The OCS gave them the green light to trace the suspects. Witnesses said the Nanyuki team traced two suspects identified as John Irungu and Francis Kinyua outside a supermarket in the town.

The witness said it was as the suspects were being arrested that they raised an alarm saying the officers were thieves.

It was then that a team of local DCI, which was unaware of the mission rushed to the scene. And without demanding explanations, the officers shot at their colleagues injuring one.

A civilian who was passing there was wounded in the hand while the officer sustained a stomach injury.

The officer was rushed to Kenyatta National Hospital where he is admitted in a stable condition.

The arrested suspects were taken to custody as those injured were rushed to hospitals.

Kiambu County police commander James Mugera said they are investigating the circumstances that led to the shooting.

Meanwhile, a man was arrested for stabbing another one to death in a quarrel in Eastleigh, Nairobi. Police say the two had picked a quarrel before one of them stabbed the deceased killing him.