Police in Nakuru have arrested seven members of a dangerous gang, among them Tanzanian nationals from Tarime Region, which last night gunned down a police officer and seriously injured two others in a fierce gun-battle.

In the past six months, Nakuru, which was elevated to city in 2021, has evolved into a gangland that is patrolled by armed criminals that police claim they are under-equipped to fight.

County Commissioner Lyford Kibaara said police recovered one loaded AK47 rifle, some crude weapons and a motorcycle which the gang is said to have been using to escape.

The commissioner confirmed that one police officer was shot dead while his two colleagues sustained serious injuries when an armed gang ambushed them while on police patrol at Free-Hold estate on Sunday night.

Kibaara said the trio had been deployed to patrol the area following a wave of crime that has hit Nakuru city and its environs. He said the next of kin for the slain officer are yet to be informed and cautioned the media against publishing his name before the relatives are informed.

On Sunday, during Madaraka Day celebrations in Bahati sub-county, the county commissioner disclosed that security agencies were on hot pursuit of a lone gun-man and his two accomplices who have been violently robbing forex bureau shops. The thugs, the politic said, use a motorcycle to escape.

The gang is said to target victims when they are closing businesses between 8.00 to 10.00 pm. They snatch cash and phones from their victims and escape on a motorbike.

The gunmen is believed to be behind a series of violent robberies witnessed at Pipeline, Ndege Ndimu and Barnabas estates where three businessmen from each estate were shot dead while an Mpesa woman worker in the CBD was abducted and killed. The incidents took place in the past three weeks.

The county commissioner said the lone gunman and his two accomplices were among those arrested by the police during a well-coordinated operation that was mounted by the contingent of security officers following the e police killing.

Dr Kibaara has consequently assured the Nakuru residents that the operation to crackdown on the criminals will continue and that all the security agencies have been put on high alert to ensure security is guaranteed for all the residents.

• A Tell Media / KNA report / By Esther Mwangi