NAIROBI – A police officer in Kenya shot dead his wife and five other people with an AK-47 in the early hours of Tuesday morning, officials have said.
A neighbour heard “a loud bang” from the officer’s home at 01:00 local time, according to a police report.
The policeman then went on what officials are calling a “shooting spree” in Kabete, near the capital, Nairobi, killing five others.
The officer later took his own life, a police statement said.
The motive behind the killings is unclear, but police said the couple had been feuding, according to the AFP news agency.
“We are told that the couple had issues and were quarrelling before,” police chief Francis Wahome told AFP.
“Until now, we never had any concerns about the officer’s behaviour. He had been going for duty properly, and had never been involved in an incident like this,” Wahome told the Reuters news agency.
This incident is not the first time a Kenyan police officer is thought to have been involved in a similar incident.
In July a female officer grabbed national headlines after allegedly killing two men, including a colleague in a span of 24 hours.
Caroline Kangogo was later found dead.
The policeman behind yesterday’s incident, who the authorities have identified as Police Constable Benson Imbasi, “started shooting at innocent members of the public frenziedly” after killing his own wife, the police report said.
One witness described the moment the shooting started to Reuters.
“He came out with an AK-47, cocked it and started firing at us where we were with the boda boda (motorcycle) riders.”
Two motorcycle taxi drivers were among the victims. Two other people were injured and are receiving hospital treatment. – BBC.
Kenyan cop shoots dead six, including wife
