A police officer shot and injured a magistrate at a Nairobi court on Thursday, before being killed in a shootout with other officers, the judiciary said.
Monica Kivuti, a magistrate at the Makadara Law Courts, was attacked after rejecting the bail request for the police officer’s wife, according to chief registrar Winfridah Mokaya.
“Immediately (after) this decision was pronounced, a person shot at the magistrate,” Mokaya said. “Police officers (at) the scene responded and neutralized the shooter.”
Kivuti and three other officers injured in the shootout are in stable condition, chief justice Martha Koome said, emphasizing that the assailant intended to kill the magistrate. Koome ordered enhanced security at courts nationwide.
The policeman’s wife had pleaded guilty to obtaining 2.9 million Kenyan shillings ($22,700) by false pretenses and sought bail, a police report seen by Reuters indicated.
“He entered inside the court through the magistrate’s door and fired shots towards the magistrate, injuring her on the chest and left hip,” the police report said.
“He was… fatally shot by a fellow officer who was in the court,” the report said.
