KIRINYAGA:Police officer shoots bystanders in row over lover!

Two people were on Sunday shot and seriously injured when they were caught up in a love triangle involving a police officer.

Mr Benson Murimi, a Form Two student and Mr Jeremiah Murimi, a cyclist were standing outside a bar in Kerugoya, Kirinyaga at 12.30 am when they were hit by bullets from the officers’ gun.

Both victims suffered leg injuries and are admitted at the Kerugoya District Hospital.

Seduction claims

Witnesses said the police officer accused an unidentified man of seducing his girlfriend and an argument ensued. The exchange then degenerated into a physical fight.

The officer grabbed the man by the collar, whipped out a pistol and dragged him outside the bar.

In the ensuing struggle, the officer and his rival fell down. It was then that the officer aimed the gun at him and opened fire but he missed his target, injuring the two men seated outside the bar.

“He wanted to kill the man but the bullets missed him and hit the student and the cyclist,” one of the witnesses said.

The student said he had gone to town to see a friend when he was shot.

“I was patiently waiting for my friend when I saw a policeman pointing a gun at a man. Suddenly a fight broke out and I heard a gunshot,” he said from the hospital bed.

The woman at the centre of the triangle surrendered herself to the police.

Both bled profusely as they were being rushed to the hospital. The few businesses open then hurriedly closed down their premises thinking robbers had struck.

Following the shooting, boda boda cyclists mobilised themselves and confronted the officer threatening to lynch him.

He was however rescued by his three colleagues and whisked off to the nearby police station.

Area police boss Patrick Oduma said they had launched investigations into the incident and the officer would be arrested if found to have committed an offence.

Witness statements

“Witnesses are recording statements of what happened,” he said adding that the matter was being treated with the seriousness it deserves.

Mr Oduma assured the victims that justice would be done, maintaining that officers who break the law would be treated as criminals.

At the hospital, relatives and friends thronged the hospital to see the victims and nurses had a hectic time trying to control them.

They described the condition of the duo as serious but said they were responding well to treatment.

The school boy said he was assisted to the hospital by cyclists who were operating at night.

SOURCE:http://www.nation.co.ke/News/Police+officer+shoots+bystanders+in+row+over+lover+/-/1056/1538472/-/item/1/-/126lowt/-/index.html