- According to the officer and the other occupants of the car, the gunman started to search each of them.
- It was then that the officer got a chance to pounce on the gunman and grabbed his rifle before flooring him.
Image: The Star
There was drama on a remote road in Samburu when a police officer on leave disarmed a gunman of his G3 rifle in an attempted robbery.
The incident happened on Wednesday morning as the officer attached to Eldama Ravine police station and three others rode on a private salon car on Wamba-Achers road, police said.
According to police, the constable of police has been on leave and was headed back to his workstation at about 9 am when the incident happened.
On reaching the scene of the incident, the driver of the car stopped after he had been flagged down by a single gunman carrying a G3 rifle.
The gunman then, at gunpoint ordered the occupants of the car to get out and lie on the ground as he demanded Sh10,000 from them.
According to the officer and the other occupants of the car, the gunman started to search each of them.
It was then that the officer got a chance to pounce on the gunman and grabbed his rifle before flooring him.
In the confusion, the man slipped and escaped from the scene as the officer cocked the weapon to fire at him.
The rifle had one bullet which the officer discharged but missed his target.
The gunman managed to vanish into a nearby thicket as the other occupants stood up in readiness for a fight.
Police said the bandit had managed to grab Sh1,000 from one of the occupants of the car.
No one was injured in the drama, police said.
Police from Archer's police station and the multiagency team from Kalama rushed to the scene and found the rifle already with the occupants of the motor vehicle.
They were all escorted to the station for statement recording.
Efforts to pursue the bandits are ongoing by following the footprints, police said.
The rifle with a magazine and a spent cartridge were kept at the station and would be sent for ballistic tests to establish if it has been used in other crimes in the area, police said.
Senior police officers termed the officer’s actions daring and brave.
The area is facing a rise in crime incidents at large amid operations to address the menace.
Bandits have been terrorising motorists and locals robbing them of their valuables.
This has affected development at large, officials say.