A mob attacked and vandalised Kiganjo Police Station in Gatundu, Kiambu County after an arrested suspect died in unclear circumstances.
Police said the suspect, identified as Paul Njuguna Kinyanjui, 30, had been arrested for possession of marijuana.
A police team was on patrol in the area on Wednesday when they met the victim and detained him for grilling, officials said.
As he was being arrested, he allegedly swallowed the same cannabis sativa that he had in his pocket, which police believe suffocated him.
He developed breathing complications and sat about 50 metres from the police station. The arresting officers called for help as the suspect was unable to walk.
Police said they rushed him to Gatundu Level Five Hospital, where medical officials tried to resuscitate him in vain. He died minutes later.
Word spread around that he had died, which prompted a mob to gather at the police station to seek an explanation.
Police said the mob later stormed the police station, pelting stones and setting on fire the in-charge crime office, which was partially burnt.
They also damaged the roof of the OCS’s office, and its windowpanes glasses were shattered with stones.
They tried to torch the semi-permanent structure housing the generator in vain, police said.
Police officers managed to put out the fire before it spread to other offices as they sought reinforcement from nearby police stations.
One suspect was arrested in the drama and will face arson charges, police said. The other group dispersed as more personnel responded to the scene.
Police said they are waiting for an autopsy report on the death of the suspect to know the way forward on the matter.
This will form part of ongoing investigations into the death of the suspect, police said, and they urged for calm.
Meanwhile, a ten-year-old boy died in what witnesses said was an accidental strangulation in Malimbani Village, Matuu, Machakos County.
Police said the boy, a Grade Four pupil at Kiungu Primary School, was playing with other friends when he accidentally rolled himself using a bedsheet that was hanging on a clothesline.
This suffocated him, and he died minutes later. His colleagues realised he was unresponsive and raised the alarm following the October 8, 2025 incident.
Police arrived at the scene and moved the body to the mortuary pending an autopsy and other procedures.
The incident left the boy’s family heartbroken, police and witnesses said
