NAIROBI, Kenya, Dec 26 – A police officer has been shot dead in an ambush by bandits while recovering over 30 stolen cattle in Meru.
According to a police report, the officer was pronounced dead in hospital after he sustained a headshot wound following the three-hour shootout, 3 Kilometres from Ntilal.
The report further indicated that several other officers were injured during the Monday incident.
“As the team was driving the cows back to Archer’s post police station and while at about 3km from the scene of recovery, they encountered an ambush where a shoot out ensued and during the contact which lasted about 3hrs, PC Victor Kosgey of GSU HQ sub unit company based at Losesia got shot above the left eye and the bullet exited through the rear skull while the officers were under the banditry attack,” the report stated.
It explained that officers had managed to trail the cows from where they had been stolen using footprints that they later realized had mixed up with other local cows.
“On further search, the patrol teams managed to find and recover the 38 cows 4 of them having markings similar to those that had been stolen in Mutuati.”
“Samburu East MR Wilson Sigei (SSP) while following footprints of cows stolen from MUTUATI of Meru county and at about 1330hrs, while at Ntilal area within Laresoro s/location MR CL 4974 about 20km North East of the station cmm the footprints of the followed cows got mixed with other footprints of the local cows,” the report indicated.
After the retrieval, the officers decided to take the cows back to the station, and that was when their vehicles encountered the attack, leaving multiple gunshots on them causing the cows to disperse in various directions.
The officers decided to retreat and take the injured officer Kosgei to hospital where he was pronounced dead upon arrival.
