A man who was captured on camera shooting at a crowd and injuring two police officers and a civilian has surrendered.
Dickson Mararo surrendered on Monday to police at the Directorate of Criminal Investigations headquarters in Nairobi in the company of his lawyer Cliff Ombeta.
He said he feared police would kill him and hence went into hiding since Friday night when the shooting happened at a club along Thika Road, Nairobi.
He told police he was provoked by the officers at the club prompting the shooting.
“He says the woman at the centre of the incident had come with him and he had realised a plan by some of the officers present to leave the club with her,” an officer aware of the probe said.
Ombeta said his client acted in self defence and that the shooting happened after an argument and disagreement.
“If you watch the entire clip on the drama, you will see he is innocent. We will prove. I am the one who advised him to surrender to authorities,” the lawyer said.
After he surrendered, Mararo was taken in by the head of Serious Crime Unit Obadiah Kuria who recorded his statement and later ordered his detention.
Mararo is a businessman in real estate and licensed to carry a gun. He said he was at the Quivers Lounge as a reveller when the shooting happened.
He shot two police constables and a female civilian before he escaped from the scene. One of the officers was injured on the hand, the other on the neck while the woman was hit in the stomach.
One police officer and the woman are admitted to hospital in serious but stable condition.
The officers were attending a party for a senior colleague and were concluding the event when the shooting happened.
Police said they are waiting for ballistic reports and that they had taken his weapon for analysis.
Kasarani police boss Peter Mwazo said due process will be followed in the case.
Cases of misuse of guns by civilian firearm holders have been on the rise amid calls for stringent measures to address the trend.
Vetting is one of the ways of addressing the issue.
-Edited by SKanyara
