Police officer killed in shootout with bandits in Samburu

A police officer, Constable Victor Kosgey of the General Service Unit (GSU), was fatally shot during a confrontation with bandits in Acher's area, Samburu County.

The incident occurred on Christmas Day while a police team was attempting to recover a herd of cattle previously stolen from the Mutuati area in Meru County.

Tragically, Constable Kosgey was struck in the head by a high-caliber bullet, which entered through the upper side of his eye and burst out the rear of his skull, resulting in his immediate death at the scene.

He was part of a group of GSU officers deployed to track down and retrieve around 100 cows that had been taken from Mutuati.

The encounter with the bandits turned into a fierce shootout that lasted over two hours.

During this clash, the bandits managed to hit and damage five police vehicles.

The bandits launched their attack as the police team was in the process of driving off with some of the recovered animals, engaging the officers in the prolonged exchange of fire.

A team of GSU Losesia (Samburu County), Aremet GSU (Isiolo County), Mariara GSU (Meru County), Matabithi GSU (Meru County) combined with officers from Archer's post police station together with reservists officers from Isiolo and Samburu Counties were following footprints of cows stolen from Mutuati of Meru county.

Police reported that around 1 pm, while in the Ntilal area within Laresoro, they encountered a challenging situation.

The footprints of the stolen cows they were tracking became intermingled with those of other cattle in the area, a tactic they later realized was a deliberate diversion by the gunmen behind the attack.

Despite this setback, the patrol teams continued their search and eventually located 38 cows grazing. Among these, four bore markings identical to those of the cattle stolen from Mutuati, while others had freshly faded marks.

Deciding to take action, the team recovered all 38 cows and began escorting them back to the Archer's Post police station for further sorting.

However, approximately three kilometers from the recovery site, the team was suddenly ambushed. This unexpected encounter led to a shootout, significantly escalating the situation.

This led to the death of the officer. The recovered cows escaped into the village as the officers retreated.

The body of the slain officer was recovered and taken to Kenyatta University Mortuary.

One suspect who was grazing the cows was arrested. This is the latest such incident in the area amid an operation to address the menace.

Interior Cabinet Secretary Kithure Kindiki said last week in one year, the government has mounted and upscaled a vicious war on bandits, livestock rustlers and other armed criminals in the North Rift Valley Region and parts of Eastern Region, resulting in a 70 percent reduction in cases of livestock theft.

He spoke when he presided over the graduation of 140 National Police Reservists (NPR) who have been recruited, trained and are ready for immediate deployment, to supplement the multi-agency security officers in combating perpetrators of banditry, livestock theft and other criminal activities.

He appealed to local political leaders, urging them to keep off security operations and to desist from meddling in the fight against banditry. end