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Another police officer died by suicide at the Nyeri Central Sub-County offices in unclear circumstances barely a fortnight after another Corporal shot himself dead at the police college, Kiganjo.

The body of Constable George Kimiti Gichuki was on Saturday found on the floor and he is said to have shot himself in the chest using his official AK47 rifle.

The bullet went through the back killing him instantly, police said.

The deceased officer was the armourer at the Administration Police Service offices where he died.

Central Regional Police Commander Samuel Ndanyi who visited the scene said the body had a single bullet hole through the left side of the chest. The bullet exited on the upper left side of the back.

The body had no other visible injuries and an AK47 rifle without a magazine was recovered lying beside him.

The detached magazine with 19 bullets was found at the scene.

Police said a spent cartridge and a bloodstained projectile suspected to have exited from the body was recovered on the floor. The body was moved to the mortuary pending autopsy and other investigations.

The incident comes two weeks after Corporal Collins Imoni Onyando turned his official gun on himself while guarding the residence of the National Police Service Campus commandant.

“It was a single shot below the chin that exited from the head,” the report adds. His colleagues recovered the firearm, a CZ 807 rifle loaded with 29 rounds of ammunition, and one spent cartridge, near the body.

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.

The Inspector General of Police Douglas Kanja warned that though all people are vulnerable to some level of stress and mental illness, the vulnerability of police officers to mental illness is escalated by unique factors.

“The nature of police work as shown by research globally, is also very demanding and stressful. For instance, Police Officers are constantly handling traumatic and disturbing scenes of crime and accidents that often leave them with long-term mental and psychological trauma,” IG Kanja said.

The police boss also revealed that most law enforcement officers shy away from seeking mental health assistance which delays possible interventions. Due to these realities and the prevalent challenges, mental health remains a pertinent issue in our country, according to Kanja.