Curious case of police officer’s stolen firearm found on crime scene
By Nyaboga KiageInvestigators were last week scouring the scene of a shooting in a local pub in Embakasi, Nairobi when they found a Ceska Pistol stained with blood besides the body of a suspected gangster who had been shot dead by police officers.
Investigations later led to a chilling revelation that the pistol of serial number KE AP B021194 belonged to one of their own.
On April 29, 2019 an Administrative Police Officer Peter Sigey, who is attached to a Senator, reported that the pistol had been stolen from him.
BALLISTIC ANALYSIS
Shockingly, six rounds of ammunition were missing from the firearm and ballistic analysis are ongoing to determine whether they had been used in any criminal activity since it was reported that the firearm was missing.
The fact that the main suspect in the loss of the firearm had already been shot dead by officers and three others managed to escape from the scene complicated the investigation which a detective told Nairobi News is still ongoing.
“The investigation is still on and commenting anything about it will only jeorpadise the whole process. However, I can assure you that we shall get to the bottom of it all,” an officer privy to the investigations said.
Such thefts are not uncommon and only bring to the light the series of cases reported in the recent past where police officers lose firearms.
Police officers have been blamed for being reckless in handling their firearms. Others are said to willingly lend their guns to thugs, and when they are not returned, they are reported as stolen.
The cases of stolen firearms come at a time officers are being issued with new firearms in a bid to curb crime in the country.
General duty police officers and those in the border patrol and the anti-stock theft unit have been given latest model of weapons which include Belgian-made FN SCAR rifles and Spanish-made guns called CZ Scorpion EVO 3A1 airsoft rifles.