Police probe mysterious fatal shooting of NHIF employee on Kaunda Street
By Hilary KimuyuDetectives from the Directorate of Criminal Investigation (DCI) forensic and ballistics department have launched investigations to unravel the fatal shooting of a staff of the National Health Insurance Fund (NHIF) within Nairobi’s CBD on Monday evening.
The detectives, who include crime scene investigators and forensic experts, sealed off a section of Kaunda Street where the incident happened in an attempt to triangulate a possible location of the shooter who might fired the bullet that killed Mary Lilian Waithera.
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Ms Waithera collapsed and died on the street as she was walking with a colleague from her place of work in Upper hill, Nairobi. Police initially classified the fatality a ‘sudden death’, probably a heart attack, as they moved the body to the Nairobi Hospital mortuary.
It was not until Tuesday, when the family transferred her body to the Kenyatta University hospital mortuary that a pathologist examination revealed that she may have been shot at from an elevated angle. The postmortem examination also revealed that a bullet was lodged in her lungs.
Nairobi police boss Adamson Bungei said the bullet that hit the 46-year-old woman was fired by someone who was on top of one of the buildings. The bullet head has since been handed over to the police for ballistic examination.
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“The case is now with the ballistic experts who are trying to unravel who fired the shot, from where and what the motive was. Initial reports indicated that she had collapsed, but we are now investigating a shooting,” said Bungei.
There are two high-rise buildings around the scene and several offices. Hamilton House, which houses two restaurants, Almandi Yemeni House, Dream Bean House and Eco Bank Towers are all adjacent to the scene.
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