NAIROBI, Kenya, Jul 5- “I feared police would kill me,” those were the words of a man accused of shooting two police officers and a civilian on July 2, when asked to explain why he went to hiding.
The man who has now been identified as Dickson Mararo said he was provoked by the two police officers on the fateful evening.
This was after he surrendered to the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) headquarters in Nairobi on Monday.
He was in the company of his lawyer Cliff Ombeta.
“He says his actions were after the two police officers tried to take away the woman, whom he claimed they had gone to the club together,” a detective who sought anonymity told Shahidi News.
The incident, that was captured on CCTV footage, happened in a club along Thika Road.
“He claimed that the officers wanted to go with the woman,” the officer added.
But his lawyer said that Mararo was only acting in self-defense saying there was a prolonged heated verbal engagement before the incident.
“He is innocent,” the lawyer said.
The head of Serious Crime Unit Obadiah Kuria has since recorded his statement.
Mararo is a licensed firearm holder and is said to be a businessman based within the city.
During the night incident, two police constables sustained gunshot injuries. Also shot was the woman whom he claimed was his friend and that they had walked in with her.
According to a police report seen by Shahidi News, one of the officers was injured in the hand while the other one suffered a gunshot injury in the neck.
The woman was hit in the stomach.
Mararo’s firearm has since been confiscated awaiting a ballistic examination to be conducted by the DCI detectives.
The country has witnessed several cases of civilian firearm holders using it in the wrong way. There was hope that a 2018 fresh vetting of firearm holders would weed out rogue characters.
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