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A senior police officer yesterday shot and seriously injured another man before turning the gun on himself in Utawala, Athi River sub-county.

Ezra Ouma (pictured), a Superintendent of Police (SP) and the head of police operations in Njiru sub-county, shot himself in unclear circumstances at around 1pm.

An officer attached to Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) headquarters said the officer had called him saying he was going to kill himself.

Officers rushed to his house at 31 Crescent Court, Githunguri location and found that he had been taken to Komarock Modern Hospital but died before he could be attended to.

Before he shot himself, Ouma is said to have shot a man identified as Philip Muhavi Ayieka, 35, on the left foot.

A Beretta pistol loaded with 12 rounds of ammunition were recovered in the house alongside two spent cartridges.

“No suicide note was found and the motive of the suicide is yet to be established,” police headquarters said.

The body was transferred to Montezuma Funeral Home pending postmortem.

Ouma has served in many parts of the country including OCS Jogoo Road police station and Makueni Traffic boss.

He was one of the over 30 officers who were retired by former Commissioner of Police Maj-General Ali Mohammed in May 2004. He was, however, later reinstated.

Workplace pressures

About 60 police officers die by suicide every year due to stress and social, financial and workplace pressures with the situation continuing to worsen, according to mental health experts.

A recent survey supporting this data shows that 90 percent of police officers are experiencing challenges related to alcoholism with 50 percent requiring psychosocial support to come out of drunkenness.

In June this year, a Police Constable based at Kimala Matta police post in Taita Taveta county shot dead his senior before turning the gun on himself.

Constable Felix Koskei shot Corporal David Kazungu on the right hand side of the head and the bullet exited on the left side, again on chest and left upper leg. He died on the spot.