Senior police officer killed in confrontation with colleagues

Shot dead: Inspector Benson Indeche. He was stationed at Riruta Police Station. [Courtesy]

A senior police officer was this morning shot dead in a confrontation with his colleagues in Nairobi’s Kawangware estate.

Inspector Benson Indeche of Riruta Police Station was shot five times and was pronounced dead on arrival at the Nairobi Women Hospital.

The incident happened at about 3 am.

Police claim Indeje may have been drunk. This was after a group of bodaboda riders had reported the slain officer was harassing them and looked drunk. They claimed he had whipped out his pistol in the confrontation.

A team of police officers that were on patrol drove to the scene and confronted the slain officer demanding to know who he was.

Police added that Indeje shot at them and injured one of the officers.

The officer was shot in the left wrist and is admitted to a hospital. It was then that one of the officers opened fire fatally wounding their senior.

And after checking his pockets, they realized he had a certificate of appointment and the Ceska pistol that he was allegedly holding.

The officers said he had used seven bullets from his pistol. It is not clear if indeed he was drunk at the time of the incident. The family has been informed of the incident.

At his rank- an inspector- Indeje could be a station commander.

Police authorities said they had opened an investigation into the incident to understand how it happened.

The body has since been moved to the mortuary.

Other colleagues said the officer was well-known in the area and have demanded to know how and why he was killed. Such incidents are common in the service where police clash in cases of mistaken identity.