Police officers on Sunday shot dead a woman and injured her companion in a case of mistaken identity at the City Park, Nairobi.
The woman and her male companion were resting in a private car within the park when police on patrol approached it. According to police, the car had been parked there for more than an hour raising suspicion.
Confirming the incident, Nairobi County Police Commander Joseph Ole Tito said the officers approached the car with an intention of knowing if there were occupants and their mission.
“The car’s windows were tinted and as the officers approached it, the driver sped off prompting one of the officers to shoot at it. Both occupants were injured but the woman succumbed in the hospital,” he said.
The incident happened at around about 10 am. Before the woman died, she informed police and the hospital attendants who her relatives were and were called there.
A relative of the man said the bullet that hit him on the shoulder also hit the woman in the chest, killing her instantly.
Tito said they had launched investigations into the incident even as the families of the man and woman accused the police of being trigger-happy.
The police boss defended the officers involved in the incident saying, they did not want to “take chances in this era of many crimes including terrorism”.
“We will investigate the matter professionally if there are complaints.”
