Witness tells court cops may not have cautioned duo at City Park before shooting

A senior police officer yesterday told court that he was not aware if his junior cautioned a man who was shot alongside a businesswoman at City Park in 2018.

David Maina, now the Transmara subcounty police commander, said the officers involved in the shooting ought to have cautioned the occupants of the car before shooting at them.

In the incident, businesswoman Janet Waiyaki was shot dead while her nephew Bernard Chege sustained serious injuries after police shot at them on May 2018.

Constables William Chirchir and Godfrey Kirui are on trial over the death of  Waiyaki.

The two had parked at City Park that Sunday morning when police approached their car and shot at them.

Testifying before judge Stella Mutuku, Maina said he could not confirm if the officers involved shouted or if they asked the two to stop before shooting at their vehicle.

He said that when he talked to the officers he found at the scene, they told him the officers who shot at the car thought there were robbers.

 “They told me that when the officers approached the car, they ordered the two occupants to alight, but the driver tried to drive off and because they did not know who was in the car, they fired at the vehicle,” he told the court.

Maina said the vehicle was still at the scene when he arrived.

He said the businesswoman and her nephew were taken to Avenue Hospital where she was pronounced dead. Chege was in critical condition.

When questioned further by the victim’s lawyer if he saw any deflated tyres, Maina said he did not see any.

A second senior police officer also testified telling the court how he ordered the injured man to be rushed to a hospital, after he and a businesswoman were shot by his juniors.

Chief inspector Moses Shikuku said they were rushed to hospital but the woman’s body “seemed lifeless” when he got to the scene.

“The woman was on the back seat and she looked lifeless.  I ordered the victims to be taken to hospital,” Shikuku said.

Shikuku, then working as Parklands OCS, told the court that police from different stations in Nairobi had been deployed in the area following a terror alert.

“At about 10am I was called by duty officer who informed me that there had been an incident within City Park area. I immediately proceeded to City Park and found officers who had come from different areas to help us,” Shikuku testified.

The officer, who is currently in charge of traffic Kasarani subcounty, said he found the injured persons still inside in the car.

“When I arrived, I saw a black Toyota Fielder. The officers who briefed me when I arrived told me that they were patrolling near the market area  and a member of the public told them there was a suspicious vehicle,” Shikuku told the court.

Further, Shikuku said the officers informed him that when they approached the vehicle, they realised it had tinted windows and that it drove off when they tried to have the occupants to come out.

In his testimony, Shikuku also said he talked to Chege who informed him that he was passing time with his aunt when the officers shot at them.