A man believed to be a hawker was Tuesday afternoon shot and wounded outside Parliament in Nairobi.
Police claimed he was a thief.
Police alleged the man had attacked a plain-clothed police officer who was trying to chase him from the area.
The police officer sustained a deep cut in his lips.
The victim is said to have been targeting motor vehicles for spares when a police officer confronted him.
According to the Nairobi police boss Adamson Bungei, the plainclothed officer was hit and seriously wounded in the mouth prompting him to open fire.
He said hawking is prohibited along Parliament Road and that he did not know the shot victim was hawking CDs.
“We have an officer seriously injured and is in hospital out of the drama,” he said.
Witnesses said the hawker was shot and wounded in the neck by a police officer who was in civilian clothes.
There was more drama when police stopped an ambulance that had responded to the scene to rescue the victim.
This attracted a mob who shouted from a distance as the victim lay on the ground holding a piece of clothing against his bleeding wound.
A police Landcruiser arrived, picked him up, and took him to the hospital.
Bungei said the victim sustained a serious wound in the neck.
“He sustained an injury in the neck and has been rushed to hospital. He is stable and will be interviewed later,” he said.
