A robber was killed last night in a shootout between police patrols and armed robbers involved in the theft of clothes that were left hanging on a clothing line in Pangani in the outskirts of Nairobi.
The confrontation, which took place around 7pm at Zambarau Mlango Kubwa area, took place after police found a security guard at Vision Plaza building tied with a rope around his legs and arms.
It was only after he was rescued that he directed the officers inside the apartment building, where three armed robbers with pistols and machetes were parking the clothes they had unhung from the clothing line.
In order to evade arrest, the three ran about looking for an escape route, defying the command to surrender unconditionally.
Two of them managed to break through the perimeter wall of the building and plunged into the darkness while firing shots, but their colleague who attempted to escape with a stolen carpet attempted to attack one of the police officers with his sharpened machete.
To save his life, the officer fired shots into the air to warn the bandit, and as he continued to make an attempt to attack him he was shot and killed instantly.
The machete used by the suspect as well as the phone that had been stolen earlier from the security guard were found at the scene, including clothes and stolen carpets.
The body of the deceased was taken to the city mortury awaiting identification as the search for the robbers who escaped continues.
