In a weird occurrence in his home in Juja, Kiambu County, a police officer assigned to the elite presidential bodyguard team committed suicide.
Constable Samuel Ngatia, a member of Deputy President William Ruto’s security squad, died on Monday morning after shooting himself in the head.
The motive for the incident is unknown, and authorities are investigating.
At the time of the occurrence, he was alone in the residence within the General Service Unit’s Recce squad camp along Kenyatta Road.
Officials who visited the scene stated he used his pistol to blow up his head, and early findings show the bullet entered on the right side and exited on the left side.
In the residence, police discovered a Jericho pistol loaded with 13 bullets and a Trevor Sub Machine Gun with two magazines loaded with 30 bullets.
Two empty cartridges and one bullet head were also discovered by police.
The body was moved to a morgue.
Ngatia, 35, was the mother of two children. According to a family acquaintance, he had supposedly divorced his wife two years ago.
“He did not look stressed when we met last Friday and we are waiting for word from the police on the incident,” said a close family member.
The event is being investigated by a team of Thika and Juja investigators.
Such instances have becoming more common in the service, prompting calls for action.
Some of the causes of such instances have been identified as police officers’ connections with their families, coworkers, and superiors, among other things.
A report on the causes of police officers shooting their coworkers was obtained by police authorities.
A team of officers led by Aggrey Adoli conducted the investigation with the goal of determining the causes and taking corrective action.
