Police car. [Photo/File
Machakos KUPPET Executive Secretary Musembi Katuku has condemned the shooting to death of a secondary school teacher during a fire exchange between police and thugs in Machakos over the weekend.Speaking to the media Mr. Katuku termed the shooting as unfortunate and called on security forces to be more vigilant when hunting criminals to avoid hurting innocent people.
He called for revamping of the Nyumba Kumi initiative saying if it had been active in the area the teacher would not have lost his life.The union boss also called on the government to assist the family to organise the funeral of the fallen teacher who hails from Trans Nzoia County.
“The government should chip in and assist the teacher’s family since they come from far away in Kitale,” he said.According to police, the late Shedrack Cheruiyot was caught in the crossfire as officers from the flying squad were exchanging fire with armed robbers who had taken refuge near his rented quarters during the early Saturday incident.He was a biology teacher at Kinyau Secondary school in Mitaboni, Kathiani Sub-County of Machakos.Area police boss Lazarus Tarus also regretted the “accidental” shooting of the teacher.He disclosed that police had trailed the armed thugs from Nairobi where they have been committing crimes before retreating to their rented premise in Machakos County.“Following the fierce exchange police managed to kill two at Mukukuni while three were gunned down at Kathaana near Tala” he explained, adding that the officers also managed to recover a pistol, 15 rounds of ammunition, a laptop, several phones among other gadgets from the gangsters.