It was matter of when not if Kabete killer cop would turn his gun on innocent people he had taken a vow of service to protect. This is according to multiple reports that have emerged since the police officer who was identified as Benson Imbatu shot six people dead on Tuesday morning.
Imbatu shot his wife then proceeded to shoot five other people who came his way before he turned the gun on himself in suicide. According to one report in the Daily Nation, Imbatu was the prime suspect in a murder at Mountain View Estate in Nairobi about eight months ago. However, he was yet to be indicted and prosecuted because the Independent Policing Oversight Authority (IPOA) was yet to submit his file to the Directorate of Public Prosecutions.
The report in the daily said that Imbatu was on duty when he excused himself to go shoot his wife dead. While still armed, he walked to his house a few metres from his workstation, where he shot dead his wife of two months. The police said that he may have been provoked by a love affair. “Anyone he met on his way became his target,” Dagoretti sub-county police commander Francis Wahome told the media.
The Nation report quoted residents who said that the Kabete killer cop was considered a man with blood on his hands by area residents. “He had a reputation of being quick to pull the trigger,” the media house quoted one resident who also added in his quote that Imbatu was “a man with blood on his hands”.
When Imbatu’s gun went silent, seven people lay dead. They were Imbatu, his wife Carol, Amos Njoroge, Gabriel Nguma Mutua, Paul Githinji, Kevin Ayieko and one other person.
Hunt for Kenyan billionaire woman who financed Jubilee for top tenders
Imbatu, who was aged 53, reportedly hailed from Idakho Village in Ikolomani, Kakamega County, where his wife-cum-mother of his three children lives. Imbatu and the lover he killed in Nairobi, Carol, started dating in September and had only lived together for one month. Carol moved into his house at J Heights Apartments in Kangemi on November 12. As their love grew, Imbatu invested his finances in Carol and opened a bar for her. Then he suspected that Carol was cheating on him.
