Are our security officers turned into cold blood murderers?
A Police officer based in Njoro Nakuru County shot his wife dead today morning before turning the gun on his head.
The officer, identified as Constable Cornelius Talaam attached to the Piave police post in Njoro, shot his wife Eunice Wamboi several times before killing himself.
“There were six spent cartridges at the scene of the incident where the two were lying in a pool of blood,” Nakuru County Commander Hassan Barua said.
The deceased’s colleagues said they had spent the better part of Monday afternoon drinking before leaving at around 3pm.
His neighbours said they heard gunshots early Tuesday morning but assumed it was just another police operation.
“The shoot out could have happened between the time we left and 8am. When we realized he had not reported to work on Tuesday as normal, we went to his house only to find the two bodies lying dead in a pool of blood,” said a constable at the post.
According to the neighbours ,the said couple had stayed together for only three months before the incident and it is not clear what caused the incident.
The two bodies were later moved to the Nakuru County Mortuary.
Police have launched investigations to establish what might have transpired.
This is the latest incident involving police in a series that have been reported of late. Police say such cases are on the rise due to stress in the service. Police officers’ relationships with their families, their colleagues and seniors among other issues have been identified as some of the causes of such incidents
Inspector General Joseph Boinnet had in 2016 received a report on the causes of shootings by police officers targeting their colleagues.
Over 421 cases of suicide in 2017, 302 in 2016, 221 in 2015 and 301 in 2014. Majority of the victims were men. In 2017, 330 men committed suicide while 224 men committed suicide in 2016, 177 in 2015 and 239 in 2014. The trend shows a disturbing situation in the society. Officials say societal stresses are the cause of the situation.