Officer who shot himself at DCI Headquarters was due to retire in months
An officer who died by suicide on Wednesday, October 11, after he shot himself at the DCI headquarters on Kiambu Road, was due for retirement in a few months time.
Police identified him as 59-year-old Corporal Linus Muia Mutunga and that he was to retire at the end of this year.
Also read: Kitengela residents alert DCI, cocaine recovered in foreigner’s apartment
He had already been given his retirement letters, which were found in the car where he shot himself, police said.
It is not clear if this contributed to his sudden move.
His colleagues said he did not leave a suicide note and that the motive for the suicide remains unclear.
The officer who worked as a driver is said to have left his office soon after he reported for duty and walked to the car park, where he fatally shot himself while inside his locked car.
Police found a Jericho pistol loaded with 14 rounds of ammunition, a spent cartridge, and one fired bullet head. The same were collected and kept as exhibits. The body was removed to Kenyatta University mortuary pending autopsy under the escort of the Special Operations Team (SOT) DCI HQ in the company of the family members.
DCI boss Mohamed Amin and chief government pathologist Dr Johansen Oduor visited the scene.
Cases of police officers dying by suicide are once again on the rise in the country.
Also read: NMK Capital Investment: DCI sheds light inside the pyramid scheme
Last week, a bizarre incident occurred when a senior police officer based in Kayole, Nairobi, called an officer attached to DCI headquarters and threatened to shoot himself.
Senior officer Ezra Ouma, 58, of Kayole police station, shot himself at his home in Nairobi’s Utawala area.
Before the incident, the officer in charge of special operations at the station had called his colleague and threatened to take her life.
Before he shot himself, Ouma is said to have shot a man identified as Philip Muhavi Ayieka, 35, on the left foot.
A Beretta pistol loaded with 12 rounds of ammunition was recovered in the house alongside two spent cartridges.
Cases of suicide among uniformed officers have been linked to stress and trauma caused by the demanding nature of their work.
The National Police Service Commission has a working counseling policy for its members, whose work is complemented by the National Police Chaplaincy Directorate, both of which enable any member of the service in need of counseling to seek professional counseling services when the need arises.
Also read: Not a minor! DCI says suspect in Eric Maigo murder fit to stand trial