DNK International By Our Correspondent,Karatina
A man was shot dead on Sunday night at a petrol station in Karatina town after he allegedly tried to disarm a police officer.
The incident triggered hours of public unrest that saw vehicles damaged and the Nairobi–Karatina highway briefly barricaded.
Police in their report say that the incident occurred at around 11.00pm on January 18 at the Rubis petrol station.
In a report filed at Karatina Police Station indicated that Administration Police officers on routine patrol were involved in a confrontation with the deceased, identified as George Gathu Matheri.
Police allege that during the confrontation, the deceased attempted to grab an AK-47 rifle from one of the officers.
In the ensuing struggle, the officer discharged four rounds of ammunition, fatally injuring the man.
He sustained gunshot wounds to the head, chest and died at the scene.
The shooting quickly drew a crowd, with angry members of the public barricading the Nairobi–Karatina highway using debris and burning tyres, paralysing traffic and heightening tensions in the town.
One officer sustained injuries during the incident, suffering harm to his right hand ring finger while attempting to separate his colleague and the deceased.
Two vehicles were damaged amid the unrest.
A Ford Ranger attached to Karatina Police Station had its front windscreen shattered, while an Isuzu FVZ truck parked at the petrol station was torched, with its cabin extensively damaged.
Senior police commanders, detectives from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations, and crime scene investigators from Nyeri visited and documented the scene.
The body was later transferred to Karatina District Hospital mortuary, where it is being preserved pending a post-mortem examination.
Police also recovered the rifle involved in the shooting, which had 16 rounds remaining in its magazine, and secured it in the armoury as an exhibit.
By Monday morning, tension remained high in Karatina town, with police indicating that investigations were ongoing and that a progress report would be issued as the situation develops.
[DNK-International@January 20,2026]
