Woman shot, robbed in Utawala, Nairobi

Police are investigating an incident in which a 34-year-old woman was shot and seriously wounded during a robbery in the Utawala area of Nairobi.

The victim was shot in the left thigh by a gang of two men who were riding on a motorcycle after robbing her of her shopping, which included fruits.

She told police she had arrived home on Thursday at about 11 pm.

After alighting from a bus, she walked through a dark alley and stopped to buy some fruits.

It was then that two men emerged, armed with a pistol, and demanded all she had and her mobile phone, which they grabbed.

She then screamed for help, prompting one of the suspects to open fire and hit her in the right leg. The bullet exited below the knee, and the woman was rushed to hospital where she was admitted.

The assailants escaped on a motorcycle, Nairobi police boss Issa Mohamud said. Police visited the scene and recovered a spent cartridge. They said the hunt for the suspects was ongoing.

Police said the area had been experiencing a crime surge amid efforts to address the trend, adding that more patrol teams had been deployed to pursue gangs operating in the area.

Meanwhile, an M-Pesa agent was shot and wounded in a robbery incident in Kisumu Town.

The incident happened on Thursday night after three gunmen approached the victim at Jubilee Market, police said. The woman was shot in the left leg and robbed of an unknown amount of money, two M-Pesa mobile phones and her bag.

The gang escaped on a waiting motorcycle. Police responded to the scene but found the suspects had already fled. Officers said the gang had been waiting for the victim outside the shop before they struck.

Police said on Friday they were pursuing the gang and hoped to bring them to justice. They added that this was the latest such incident in the area amid efforts by authorities to address the trend, and said a team had been set up to pursue all reported cases.