Man stabs and injures three cops while resisting arrest in West Pokot

Three police officers were wounded on Wednesday after a knife-wielding suspect attacked them while resisting arrest in Makutano town, West Pokot County

Police said the attack happened in the Joyland area of Makutano town after residents alerted Makutano Police Station about a man who was causing a commotion and chasing people while brandishing a knife.

Three police officers responded to the scene and attempted to arrest the suspect.

According to the police, as the officers moved in to apprehend him, the suspect turned hostile and attacked them with the knife, leaving them injured.

One of the officers was injured in the neck, the second ne in the shoulder and the other in the right foot.

The suspect was identified as Hillary Pkemoi, a local. It is not clear what triggered his earlier behavior that led to the police response and stabbing, police said.

He was later arrested and detained at the local police cells pending other procedures.

The suspect was being interrogated on Thursday as part of the procedures before he faces justice, the police said.

Police said the injured officers were rushed to hospitals in the area and admitted in stable condition. The one who was stabbed in the neck was referred to Moi Teaching Referral Hospital in Eldoret, police said.

Elsewhere in Kehancha, Migori County, police are investigating murder in an incident where a 52-year-old woman was burnt to death in her house.

The woman was killed by a mob that had said they were looking for her son over undisclosed reasons.

Police said a mob of about 200 arrived at the scene in Namba Bridge area armed with crude weapons ready for action and set the woman’s house on fire. They then beat her before setting her house on fire. She was identified as Cathrene Wankuru Chacha.

Her son had then escaped the scene when the gang turned on his mother. Police said the raid was the second one in a week. The body was moved to the mortuary pending an autopsy and other procedures.

Police said they are pursuing murder in the incident. Incidents of mob lynching have been on the rise amid efforts to address the menace.

Police say up to four cases are reported daily in a worrying trend. The incidents remain unsolved as the mobs behind the same are yet to be found.