KIAMBU,Kenya, Dec,7 – Police constable Benson Imbatu will forever be associated with infamy after shockingly going on a shooting spree killing six people among them his wife before later turning his government issued rifle on himself.
A sworn officer of the law, it remains to be established why he would commit such an atrocious act which colleagues say, “We can’t even imagine what drove him to such madness.”
Imbatu, an officer attached at the Kabete Police Station was at his work station when a couple of minutes to 1am Tuesday, surprisingly ‘excused’ himself from work without informing anyone and later proceeded home armed with his AK-47 assault rifle.
Moments after arriving home, at J apartments within the area he is said to have fatally shot his wife Carol Asava.
Dagoretti Police Commander Francis Wahome, said that the deceased officer later left aboard his vehicle and that anyone in his path was deemed a ‘target’ as he indiscriminately fired his rifle.
“He was wielding his gun and started shooting people. Fortunately his initial targets managed to escape unhurt,” said Wahome.
Others however were not so fortunate including some neighbours who had initially responded to the gunshots concerned that people were in distress not knowing that someone that lived amongst them had turned into a killer.
Several other neighbours shortly after notified area police that an active shooter was killing people and that he might have been an officer. A contingent of police officers from Kabete police station were quickly disptached to the area.
“We mobilised officers and went to contain the situation, our priority was saving lives. As we went there, we continued to receive calls that he had been spotted in other areas close to his home,” he said.
Minutes later, the deceased officer is then said to have shot five other people among them two bodaboda operators whose attempts to save their own lives proved futile.
Concerned that the incident could escalate even further, police, teamed up with local bodaboda operators to track down one of their own hoping to exploit their knowledge of some of the possible hiding spots he might have escaped to.
The operation is said to have taken more than an hour.
“We finally caught up with him and he was cornered but when he realised there was nowhere he could escape to, he decided to turn the gun on himself,” said Wahome who further revealed that,”he had discharged at least 26 bullets during the entire incident,”
“The situation could even have been worse,,,we just thank God that no more lives were lost. But I can tell you that it has hit the police fraternity very hard. We do not know why he did what he did. When you look at the faces of some of my officers here, they are shocked beyond belief that one of their own could commit such an act,”
Wahome meanwhile condoled with the family of the slain victims saying that investigations into the incident is ongoing though preliminary reports have so far proved inconclusive.
The bodies of the deceased are being preserved at the Nairobi City mortuary while two other victims who sustained injuries are receiving treatment at the Kenyatta National Hospital.
Judy Njambi, a sister to one of the slain bodaboda operators expressed shock to news that his brother, 26 year old Joseph had been killed saying that he was a hard working man who had a bright future in front of him.
“My aunt had called an notified me that he was among those killed by a police officer. I was shocked since my brother was not a thief he was a hard working man who also doubled up as DJ, working in various events,” said a teary Njambi.
Njambi, who was visibly distraught by the news called on investigating officers to establish the facts of the incident further calling on the government to provide psychosocial support to officers who are suffering in silence as a result of work, home or other stress related issues.
Protests had early Tuesday morning rocked Kabete town with residents and bodaboda operators protesting the killings.
Demonstrators had also stormed a liquor establishment believed to have been owned by the deceased officer before police lobbied teargas to disperse the violent crowd.
The Independent Policing Oversight Authority (IPOA) has been conducting an investigation against Imbatu for allegedly shooting dead Nicholas Lifede in mountain view area back in April. His firearm is believed to have been used during the incident.
For close to 30 years in service,Imbatu is said to have at one point served as a police escort to retired president Mwai Kibai while at one point being assigned at the Embaksi Inland container depot as part of the police security detail.
Calls For NPS To ‘Wake up’ and Help Officers
Experts have identified psychological challenges as a major contributor to increased suicide cases among officers.
An attempt by former Inspector General of Police Joseph Boinnet to address the challenges did not yield much and a report commissioned to establish the cause of the suicide among police officers three years ago was never made public.
Inspector-General of Police Hillary Mutyambai has since said that the National Police Service has a dedicated department to handle the issues of mental health within the service at all times.
The National Police Service Commission is also establishing a mental health unit, to offer psychosocial support to police officers.
This was after a General Service Unit officer in April this year killed his wife, a traffic officer based at Kilimani Police Division, before committing suicide.
The deceased officer was among bodyguards assigned to Interior Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiangi while his wife was a traffic police officer.
The officer identified by police as Hudson Wakise is said to have opened fire on his wife after a quarrel over domestic issues at the woman’s house, just outside the GSU camp in Ruaraka.
Such cases have been on the increase lately, with at least two cases reported every month across the country, according to available statistics.
Work-related trauma has been identified as a major contributor to the latest series of killings.
IG Mutyambai had in 2019 launched a new programme Muamko Mpya-Healing the Uniform Initiative to give psychological support to officers.
“The ultimate goal of the initiative is to provide officers with knowledge, tools, and a framework to assist them to support each other while handling traumatic situations,” Mutyambai said.
“They encounter most of these situations on personal and professional levels.”
But while such initiatives have been started, it is not yet clear whether they are impactful.
On January 4, 2021, a police officer in Garissa shot and killed himself.
This happened a few hours after a prison warder in Mwea committed suicide after killing a police officer in an alleged love triangle.
The two incidents followed the January 3, 2021 murder-suicide at Kamukunji Police Station in Nairobi, where an officer killed his female colleague and injured another before taking his own life.
In March, an officer from Kisii also shot two of his colleagues where one died and the other sustained serious injuries after an argument.
Want to send us a story? Contact Shahidi News Tel: +254115512797 (Mobile & WhatsApp)
