End of the road! How notorious armed robber was cornered by police
Detectives attached to the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) on Wednesday, January 4, 2023, gunned down Nairobi’s most wanted robber who has been operating in the city.
In a statement, the DCI said that the man identified as Mr. Charles Gitau Mwangi alias Baroda, 22, was cornered as he was attacking a helpless woman in Mathare, Nairobi County.
“The deceased who has been on detectives’ radar for the past few weeks was fatally wounded in a barrage of gunfire after he defied orders to surrender and attacked one of our men,” the statement further read.
The DCI said that Mr. Mwangi is one of the last gang members of the notorious Katombi gang that had been hunted and wiped out from Mathare by police in 2022.
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Detectives who were on patrol heard a commotion as a woman wailed before she was joined by members of the public who were chasing after the suspected robber and two of his accomplices.
“The thugs were escaping from a scene of the crime at Mlango Kubwa, where they had attacked a woman headed to work at around 8 am and took away her mobile phone and other valuables leaving her wailing in anguish,” the statement further read.
The three suspects ran towards the Muthaiga Bridge but the officers managed to corner Mr. Mwangi, he was asked to surrender but he failed to do so and instead shot at the officers with a homemade firearm.
Police say that the other two accomplices managed to escape but they had already been shot and wounded by the crime busters.
“Meanwhile, a firearm capable of firing, 2 rounds of 9mm caliber, a knife, and the stolen mobile phone were recovered from the fallen suspect,” the statement further read.
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Cases of insecurity have been reported within Mathare and its environs in the recent past.
On December 22, 2022, police officers shot dead a robbery with violence suspect and arrested two other suspects in an incident that took place along Muratina Road in Mathare Slums, Nairobi County.
The three suspects, who are reported to have been armed with machetes, had robbed a woman of her valuables moments before members of the public spotted them and gave chase.