Police detain NIS officer accused of shooting friend dead at Kasarani liquor store
According to court documents, 25-year-old Macharia was shot once in the head at close range inside the suspect’s vehicle and died instantly. The two are said to have left a liquor joint in Garden Estate and entered Kiplangat’s car, where a brief altercation occurred before the suspect allegedly shot the deceased.
Police have secured orders to detain Peter Kiplangat, an officer with the National Intelligence Service (NIS), who allegedly shot and killed a friend at a liquor store in Kasarani, Nairobi, on Wednesday morning.
The Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) is probing a case of murder, contrary to Section 203 as read with Section 204 of the Penal Code, in connection with the death of Austin Maina Macharia.
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Police Constable Hillary Tanui, based at the Kasarani DCI offices, obtained a court order to detain Kiplangat for 20 days pending investigations into the incident.
The order was granted by Principal Magistrate Renee Kitangwa of the Makadara Law Courts.
According to court documents, 25-year-old Macharia was shot once in the head at close range inside the suspect’s vehicle and died instantly. The two are said to have left a liquor joint in Garden Estate and entered Kiplangat’s car, where a brief altercation occurred before the suspect allegedly shot the deceased.
Security guards restrained Kiplangat at the scene until police arrived and arrested him. The deceased’s body was taken to the Nairobi Funeral Home.
PC Tanui stated that police had established the victim was shot inside the vehicle and that the bullet exited through the head.
“The murder weapon, a Jaw pistol loaded with 14 rounds of ammunition, a spent cartridge, and a bullet head were all recovered from the vehicle,” Tanui said in an affidavit filed in court and shared with the Macharia family's lawyer, Abner Mango.
Tanui listed several key procedures that still need to be carried out as part of the ongoing investigation. These include: conducting a post-mortem to establish the exact cause of death, tracing and recording statements from key witnesses, escorting the suspect for a psychiatric evaluation, tracing and retrieving the firearm movement register from Kiplangat’s employer, submitting the recovered weapon for ballistic analysis and obtaining and reviewing CCTV footage from the scene of the shooting.
Lawyer Mango supported Tanui’s application, arguing that Kiplangat’s position in a security agency could enable him to interfere with evidence.
“The respondent is well known at the premises where the incident occurred. There is a likelihood of interference,” said Mango.
However, the application was opposed by defence lawyer Stanley Kang’ahi, who argued that the DCI’s claim that Kiplangat has no known fixed address was not a sufficient reason to deny him bail.
Kang’ahi requested that the suspect be released on bond during the investigation or that he be detained for a shorter period than the 20 days sought by the police.
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