The IIndependent Policing Oversight Authority (IPOA) has identified a police officer involved in one of the fatal shootings during the May 18 to 19 fuel price protests.
In a statement on May 30, 2026, The authority revealed that witnesses told that a single armed officer, believed to have been in a Kenya Prisons Service uniform, fired the shot that killed Martin Rigii Karuu in Kiambu Town on May 18.
The deceased was among protesters near Full Gospel Churches of Kenya in the Mburerie area when he was hit at around 1:00 pm and rushed to a nearby hospital for emergency treatment.
According to IPOA, it’s investigators processed the scene, interviewed witnesses, and obtained CCTV footage from a nearby business that may help clarify what happened during the chaotic moments.
“Investigators processed and documented the scene and obtained CCTV footage from a nearby business premises,” stated IPOA.
Preliminary witness accounts indicate involvement of a single armed officer believed to have been dressed in a Kenya Prisons Service uniform.
“Doctors attended to him, but he was pronounced dead about forty minutes after arriving at the facility. His body was later moved to St. Theresa Hospital Mortuary in Thindigua”, IPOA added.
A post-mortem confirmed that Karuu died from a single gunshot wound that ruptured his lung and fractured several ribs, injuries consistent with a high-velocity projectile.
At the same time, IPOA is investigating the death of 23-year-old Brian Ndung’u Njung’e, who was found hanging inside a cell at Kiambu Police Station on May 21, hours after being arrested over a suspected theft case.
A post-mortem established the cause of death as asphyxia due to neck compression consistent with ligature strangulation, with suicide confirmed. IPOA is now reviewing whether officers followed proper custodial supervision procedures.
