A man in his 40s from Mombasa saved the life of a police officer, whose firearm had been snatched by a suspected terrorist on Wednesday evening (November 27).
The suspected terrorist had grabbed the rifle, CZ Scorpion, from the cop outside the First Community Bank in Bondeni, Mombasa.
Police say the suspect was taking aim so as to fatally shoot the police officer.
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However, before the said-terrorist could pull the trigger, a middle-aged man kicked him hard in the back, sending him sprawling to the ground.
The police officer managed to repossess his gun, and fired seven times at the suspect, who was attempting to flee the scene.
The said-terrorist died on the spot, police said.
An eye witness, Mohammed Swaleh, told K24 Digital that the suspect ambushed the police officer when he [officer] was seated on a plastic chair outside the bank as he waited for his colleague, who had visited the bank.
“The suspect hit the cop, and grabbed the gun. His subsequent attempt at shooting the police officer failed, when a civilian struck him in the back, causing him to thud against the ground,” Swaleh said.
“The officer successfully scrambled for the firearm, took aim at the suspect and fired seven times, killing the alleged terrorist on the spot,” added Swaleh.
Mombasa Urban Sub-County Police Commander, Eliud Monari, has identified the police officer as PC Njeru, and the suspect as “a man in in his 40s, who is well-trained on weapon handling”.
“The suspect is a person who knew what to do, and how to do it. He seems to be a well-trained firearm handler,” Monari told K24 Digital.
“However, his identity remains unknown, given at the time of the incident, he did not have any identification document on him,” said Monari.
“We will take his fingerprints and forward them to the Registrar of Persons for analysis so as to ascertain his identity,” said Monari.
The Mombasa urban police chief says no one has come forward to claim the suspect’s body, which is preserved at the Coast General Referral Hospital mortuary.
Monari said that PC Njeru sustained injuries in his back and knees.
In 2016, a similar incident happened at the same area, when a police officer was killed by a suspected terrorist Ismail Mohammed Soshi. Soshi was, however, shot dead by police.
