Thugs notorious for targeting M-Pesa shops gunned down in shootout with police

By , K24 Digital
On Mon, 11 May, 2020 15:12 | < 1 min read
Julius Kiragu
Kisauni police boss Julius Kiragu. NDEGWA GATHUNGU | SOPHIE NJOKA
Kisauni police boss Julius Kiragu. PHOTO | SOPHIE NJOKA

Police in Kisauni, Mombasa County on Sunday evening gunned down three notorious thugs who have been terrorizing Coast residents over the last two years.

Kisauni sub-county police commander Julius Kiragu said that the trio was involved in a series of armed robberies targeting M-Pesa shops in Mombasa, Kwale and Kilifi counties.

He added that one of the suspects who was gunned down on Sunday had previously escaped a police trap two weeks ago during a shootout at Nyali bridge where two others were killed and a pistol recovered.

Kiragu said police officers on patrol in Bamburi were alerted of five suspects who were armed with pistols and crude weapons were robbing members of the public.

The officers responded, Kiragu said, leading to a shootout after the armed robbers defied orders to surrender.

“Upon being ordered to surrender after being cornered, they began charging at the police officers, and in return, police fired back and killed the three suspects,” he said.

Further, the police chief two of the suspect escaped with gunshot wounds.

“We are following close leads, to enable us to bring to book two more suspects who escaped during yesterday's shootout,” he said.

Police recovered two homemade guns, a machete and two knives.

The bodies were moved to Coast General Hospital mortuary, awaiting to undergo identification and postmortem.