“Police arrested our son before shooting him dead in Kayole,” Kin

Police on Thursday arrested a man, but in a sudden turn of events, shot him three times, killing him instantly.

Kevin Mbugua, 24, was in the company of his two other friends in Soweto Kayole when the incident occurred.

One of the suspects was arrested as another fled the scene when the two police officers confronted them.

According to police officers, Mbugua had a pistol, two phones and a laptop suspected to have been stolen.

His mother, Grace Mungari, however, disputes the claims asserting that her son was not involved in any kind of crime.

She said two police were involved in arresting Mbugua, but one pulled the trigger and killed him.

Police took his body to Soweto Station after the killing and kept it in a Land Cruiser for three hours.

“It took the intervention of Mbugua’s family for my son to be taken to City Mortuary,” she said.

A preliminary report shows Mbugua was shot thrice—twice on the rib and once on the chest. There are exit wounds. Pathologists are yet to conduct a surgical postmortem.

Mbugua died aged 24 and is survived by a three-year-old daughter. Mbugua did menial jobs to fend for his family.

“During campaigns, Mbugua was employed by an event and planning company. After elections, he worked as a mason in Soweto,” the mother said.

Mbugua sat his KCPE examination at Dhawabu Primary School, Kayole, before joining Form One in Nakuru. He returned after a year and enrolled at City Shine Secondary School in Soweto, where he took the KCSE examination in 2019.

There are concerns about why police killed Mbugua, yet they had already arrested him.

Police have taken out many youths in informal settlements in a similar fashion.

The officers are yet to provide any evidence proving that they arrested Mbugua with a firearm or stolen items. The OCPD or Independent Policing Oversight Authority (IPOA), mandated to oversee police,  is also yet to comment on the killing.