Six suspects linked to the fatal shooting of a police officer in Thika on June 18, 2025, have been apprehended.
In a statement released on Monday, July 21, the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) revealed that detectives were led to a hideout in Kahawa West during a joint operation guided by forensic leads.
Five of the suspects were arrested, and a sixth was captured in the Kiamumbi area.
Joseph Ngotho Karanja, Benjamin Kambo Mwangi, Athanase Ndacaisaba, Kelvin Mbilika Ollingo, Samuel Omurambi, and Philip Muiruri Muchiri were among those arrested. During the operation, a Toyota Fielder believed to have been used in the crime was also seized.
The suspects were arraigned at the Thika Law Courts, where investigators secured a 21-day custodial order to allow for further probing. The case will be mentioned again on August 11, 2025.
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The victim, Constable Bernard Koome, an undercover officer attached to the Special Police Intervention Unit (Spiv) in Thika, was fatally shot during a robbery attempt gone wrong in Thika Town, Kiambu County, on June 18.
According to police reports, the incident occurred around 4 p.m. in the Kianjau area. Koome and his colleagues had been patrolling the neighborhood when they flagged down a suspicious motorcycle.
The rider initially abandoned the bike and appeared to surrender by kneeling. However, as the officers approached, he suddenly drew a firearm and opened fire.
Caught off guard, the officers scrambled for cover, but Koome was struck in the neck during the exchange.
The gunman later hijacked another motorcycle at gunpoint and disappeared from the scene.
Koome was rushed to the hospital but was pronounced dead on arrival.
