Nairobi News

The housemaid of the house in Lavington that was the scene of a five hour gunfight between police and suspected robbers has disclosed the dramatic events as they unfolded.

Christine Mwende recalls how the two suspected robbers entered the compound at around 11:45am on Monday and asked her to hide them from police officers who were hot on their trail.

She agreed to their request and told them to enter the kitchen where she would lock them up

In her mind, Mwende knew the two suspects were dangerous and capable of doing anything to her.

“There had been gun shots outside the compound.  I knew the police were following these people. I also knew that if the police caught up with them, the thugs would use me as a hostage to shield themselves from police’s bullets,” Mwende narrated.

Escape route

In the kitchen, the two suspects began inquiring about possible escape routes. Mwende suggested the kitchen door.

One of the suspects used the door to get out of the house and then jumped over the wire mesh fence into the neigbouring compound.

“I was left with the other man in the kitchen and I heard three gun shots as we were speaking with the man. He was holding a gun in his hand and wore black gloves,” she says.

The man asked Mwende for another route out of the compound, just in case police found out that he was hiding inside.

Mwende, in reply, urged him to remain calm in the house.

“I asked him to be calm, not to shoot and just trust me to shield him. Soon, the other man returned and I told them that I needed to go outside,” she said.

“They asked me what I was going to do outside and I lied to them that there is a child I need to pick because it was not safe outside and so they allowed me to go,” she recalled.

On second thought, Mwende told them that she will lock the door so that the police would not be suspicious of their presence.

Locked him in

“When I was leaving, the man who had earlier left the house left again. The remaining man told me to hide him and I told him to remain in the house and locked him. I then locked the main door on the other side of the house and fled,” she said.

Mwende ran outside the gate and informed security guards manning neighboring compounds about the suspects hiding in the house.

The guards were already aware of the police chase and stopped the police car when it passed.

The suspect who ran out of the house was shot in the neighboring compound and a Taurus Revolver loaded with 6 bullets recovered from him.

Police told Mwende to draw an outline of how the house looked like from inside.

GSU personnel then stormed the house together with Muthangari OCS Lipa Krop.

In the ensuing shootout, Mr Krop was shot on the arm four times and twice in the stomach.

It emerged that the suspect had locked himself in one of the bedrooms which had an automatic lock.

At exactly 3:56 pm, officers from the elite Recce Squad arrived and within seven minutes, they had managed to kill the suspect.