The proverbial 40th day for four suspected gangsters in Eldoret came to pass on Wednesday morning after the group was gunned down by police officers.
Officers from Eldoret Central police station raided the suspects and shot them at Eldoret-Uganda road.
According to Eldoret County Commander Johnstone Ipara, the group challenged police officers on patrol despite being ordered to submit.
“The dangerous criminals were challenged by police officers on patrol along the Eldoret-Uganda road. The criminals were ordered to submit but they fired at the officer with an intention of harming them leaving the officers with no option but to gun them down.
“The four were killed on spot. Upon conducting a search on them, a pistol was recovered, 11 rounds were found, 2 magazines and a pocket phone,” said Ipara.
The police commander added that the suspects used the pocket phone to monitor the location of the police officer so that they can carry out their heinous act with ease.
Ipara said that the suspects were trailed for months and revealed that the suspects came from Mombasa, spent time in Nairobi mid-December before finding their way in Eldoret.
“These particular suspects were in Mombasa early last month, in Nairobi last mid-month, towards the end of last month they were in Nakuru. In the last five days, these particular suspects have been in this town with an intention of reaping an illegal harvest,” added the Commander.
Ipara also confirmed that no police officer was injured during the shooting incident and assured Uasin Gishu residents that their security is guaranteed.
The shooting incident paralysed transport activity along the Kitale-Eldoret highway.
The incident come in the wake of terror attacks in some parts of the country.
On Tuesday, four people were killed in Garissa following an Al Shabaab militia attack.
The police, however, managed to gun down two terrorists.