A photo of the gun the DCI said they recovered from a man who was shot outside Thika Level Five Hospital.
| DCIKiambu
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Shooting victim rescued by police turns out to be robbery suspect
What you need to know:
- Trouble started for the man when he was shot by an occupant of a private car who later sped away.
- Police now believe the man is linked to a spate of armed robberies in Nairobi and Kiambu counties.
A shooting victim in Thika town who was rushed to hospital by police on Tuesday night has turned out to be a suspected armed gangster and is now under police guard at Thika Level Five Hospital.
Trouble started for the man when he was shot by an occupant of a private car who later sped away, leaving him injured and bleeding.
Concerned witnesses called the police to rescue the man, who they believed was a victim of a crime.
"The incident took place near the hospital itself. We found the seriously injured man and took him to the hospital," the officers said in an official statement issued by the Directorate of Criminal Investigation (DCI).
The injured man had no identification and refused to give his name to the doctors and the officers who took him to the hospital, the DCI statement said, adding that the man was able to speak, but was unwilling to give his name.
This prompted officers to launch a forensic identification process and, after establishing his name, they traced his house in Makongeni Estate, where a Ceska pistol loaded with 15 bullets was found hidden under a carpet. Police also recovered a roll of bhang from the same house.
Further investigation revealed that the man had argued with his attackers before they shot him, and police suspect that he knew his assailants.
Police now believe the man is linked to a spate of armed robberies in Nairobi and Kiambu counties.
The DCI said the recovered gun had been identified as one stolen from a licenced holder in Kahawa Sukari, Nairobi County, on January 28, 2023.
The owner reported that two armed men on an unmarked motorcycle accosted him at a construction site, overpowered him and also stole his mobile phone and cash.
On the same day, the same two suspects are believed to have robbed three people in Landless Section II.
"The trio was visiting the site of a parcel of land they had purchased. Their mobile phones and money were also taken by the assailants at gunpoint," the statement added.
