Five others were admitted to various hospitals in Migori with gunshot wounds.
Two people died on the spot while the other two died while receiving treatment in hospital.
One of the slain people is Mwita Thomas, a businessman who operated a shop in Ntimaru town. The gangsters stole Sh20,000 and a mobile phone from his wife's handbag and unknown amount from his safe at the shop before shooting him on the head.
The other victim, Mwita Bisendo, who according to locals sat for his KCSE exams last year and was due to join university in September, was shot when he bumped into the robbers.
The other two were shot while the robbers were trying to escape into a nearby bush that leads to the Migori-Tanzania border.
According to Susan Boke, who operates a shop in the town and witnessed the incident, gunshots were heard at around 6.30pm.
"I heard two gunshots and ran inside and closed the door. More gunshots followed. Screams and shouts rent the air and when a little calm returned thirty minutes later, I opened the door and found a man lying in a pool of blood outside my shop," she said.
According to another witness, the four thugs had been spotted wearing police jackets, which they used to hide their rifles. They had patrolled the town and disappeared only to appear a few minutes before 7pm, when they began robbing shops.
Yesterday morning, angry residents gathered at the market waiting for local leaders and security officers to address them.
Businesses remained closed as some residents threatened to match to the nearby Ntimaru police division, which is less than five kilometres from the scene to protest against what they called "poor response" from the police.
"If the area police get tips on illicit brews or bhang dealers, they respond promptly but they took two hours to respond to the gun-point robbery yet we have a police post in town," Mwera Chacha said.
Kuria East OCPD Patrick Lobolia said the thugs had likely chosen to strike on Saturday because it was a market day at Ntimaru. He also claimed he was the first to get to the scene since he was watching news within the market area when he heard gunshots.
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