Police gun down three suspected gangsters in Ruiru

Police said a homemade pistol was recovered inside the car.

Photo credit: File

Police in Ruiru on Friday morning shot dead three suspected gangsters who were driving a stolen vehicle.

The car, police said, had been stolen from Kayole, Nairobi by the suspected gangsters who then proceeded to Githurai-Kimbo where they had planned to commit a series of crimes.

The gang had tampered with the ignition set of the car and had set an improvised metallic rod as the ignition key.

They were gunned down along Mwiki Kasarani –Githurai 45 road.

Ruiru DCIO Mr Justus Ombati told Nation.Africa on Friday that the three were known carjackers who had previously been involved in motor vehicle theft syndicate and have been committing a series of crimes in Ruiru and Mwiki.

According to a  police report, police officers who were on patrol noticed a suspicious white Toyota Probox KBZ 113S and signalled its occupants to stop but they defied the orders.

“The said vehicle failed to stop prompting the officers to give a chase and the shoot-out ensued when the occupants fired at the officers,” a police report reads.

The three gangsters were in their late twenties and their bodies were moved to City Mortuary.

Police said one of the gangsters, who was part of the gang, managed to escape with gunshot wounds.

“One escaped towards Mwiki-Kasarani Road with gunshot wounds,” police said.

The report added that a homemade pistol was recovered inside the car and that preliminary investigations revealed that the stolen vehicle belongs to Mr Francis Gatambi.

“The owner has been contacted and he has confirmed (that) the said vehicle is missing from where he had parked it the previous night,” police said.