Police officer kills lover, turns gun on self in Kericho

A police officer shot and killed his lover before turning the gun to himself in a murder-suicide incident in Sosiot trading centre in Belgut, Kericho county.

Constable Bernard Bilayi first shot and killed Shauline Akoth before he turned the gun on himself Wednesday morning, police said.

His colleagues at the Critical Infrastructure Protection Unit (CIPU) said he was guarding the Belgut sub-county headquarters.

The officer shot the girlfriend at her workplace, which is directly across the street from the sub-county headquarters.

After shooting his girlfriend, the officer reportedly went home and turned the gun on himself. He shot himself in the chin dying on the spot. His body was found in a pool of blood with the killer weapon, a G3 rifle next to it.

The two have been together for more than a year. The motive of the incident is yet to be known. It is the latest in a series affecting police officers where they kill and die by suicide.

Dozens of police officers have died as a result of suicide a trend that is attributed to stress at work.

As part of efforts to address the trend, police authorities have launched counseling services and the National Police Service Commission has established a unit and staffed it to attend to their demanding situation.

The counseling unit will, among other things, evaluate, design, and lead an outreach program that helps prevent mental health and substance abuse.

The incident could be linked to increasing cases of suicide within the service, which have been associated with trauma. 

Officials say trauma is the main reason for such behaviour.

Police officers are often in touch with extremely painful issues in the community such as murder and rape, which stresses them.

The stress can be passed to immediate members of the family.