This archive report was first published on 9 September 2019.
On Sunday night, a 2-year-old toddler was tragically shot and killed in Maziwa, Kasarani, in a incident that has left the community reeling.
According to eyewitnesses, the two police officers involved in the shooting were on 'tax collection rounds' when they got into an argument with some women at a changaa joint.
As the situation escalated, the officers allegedly shot in the air to scare the crowd, but unfortunately, one of the bullets struck the toddler, who was just 2 years and 11 months old.
The police have since released a statement claiming that the officers were shooting in the air to disperse the crowd, but witnesses dispute this account.
Residents in Maziwa took to the streets in protest, barricading the road and setting bonfires in anger.
One witness, who took to social media to describe the incident, wrote: 'My younger brother works at a car wash along the bypass. Yesterday, around 6:30pm, he was washing a client's car when a guy came running to tell him that his son, who was around 4 years old, had been shot by police through his stomach. He immediately went to the scene, as they were taking him to Kiambu hospital, unfortunately, my nephew was pronounced dead.'
The two officers are now in lawful custody, awaiting to be presented in court.
The child was shot twice with a Kenya government-issued AK 47 service weapon.
