According to a police officer who was present at the scene of the shooting death of senior Pakistani journalist Arshad Sharif in a “mistaken identity” incident in Nairobi, they fired first, which is what caused the fatal shooting as a group of police officers handed over their weapons, Kenyan media reported on Wednesday.
According to a news update by the Kenyan newspaper The Star, the police are looking into the incident and the injury to one of the officers involved in the shootout to see whether there were any other shooters.
The owners of the Ammodump Kwenia Shooting Range, where Sharif spent the day before being killed, will also be questioned, according to the statement made by the law enforcement officials.
The mentioned shooting range describes itself as a significant training site for security professionals looking to advance their shooting abilities, according to the publication.
“We are experts in security and defence gear. In order to bring together the best-in-class brands, assets, and people in the complex risk management business, a group of like-minded individuals founded Ammodump in 2015.” reads the magazine about the product line.
The article also revealed that Waqar Ahmed, the range owner, and Khurram Ahmed, Sharif’s driver, are siblings.
After the shooting, Khurram called Waqar and told him what happened. At that point, Waqar gave his brother the order to take Sharif to a shopping centre for emergency care.
The driver is one of the people the investigation is looking into. The newspaper made an attempt to contact him but was unsuccessful.
According to the corporal, Sharif’s automobile shot first.
One of the officers engaged in the incident, Corporal Kelvin Mutuku, was reportedly hospitalised after being shot in the left palm.
The corporal claimed, according to the report, that he and his colleagues came under fire before the car transporting Sharif arrived at the roadblock they had set up.
The officers, who work as instructors at the neighbourhood police training camp, reportedly told The Star that they were stationed together at the time of the event and that it was doubtful that a friendly fire incident occurred.
It’s being asserted that the initial shot was what sparked the subsequent shooting at Sharif’s vehicle.
According to the report, Corporal Mutuku informed the police that they had driven from the training facility to the shooting scene after learning that a lost car had been spotted in Kenya’s Kiserian region.
The officer asserted that the car carrying Sharif and his driver passed the roadblock despite seeing the police cruiser’s lights on a short while after receiving the call. He asserted that when attempting to stop the car, they were shot at first, which led to the deadly gunshot.
The officer reportedly told authorities that Khurram, Sharif’s driver, drove a few kilometres ahead and came to a stop at his brother’s house after realising Sharif was bleeding to death.
Before transferring the deceased to the mortuary, police arrived on the scene and questioned him.
No weapon or suspicious object was discovered during the authorities’ examination of the car.
Arrival of Sharif’s body in Pakistan
Early on Wednesday morning, the journalist’s body was transported to Islamabad, where family members met it at the airport.
The deceased journalist’s family has announced that they will also have a post-mortem in Pakistan.
The PIMS Hospital has already received a request from the police for a post-mortem.
On the other side, the family has also stated that his funeral prayers will be said on Thursday at 2 PM at the Shah Faisal Mosque in Islamabad. He will afterwards be buried at the H-11 cemetery in the nation’s capital.
Government teams up to investigate Arshad Sharif’s slaying
A panel created to “ascertain the facts” regarding the journalist’s death has been reconstituted by the government.
Federal Investigation Agency (FIA), Inter Services Intelligence (ISI), and Intelligence Bureau (IB) officers made up the first three members of the government’s team. However, it is currently a two-person team.
Athar Waheed, director of the FIA, and Omar Shahid Hamid, deputy director general of the IB, are on the team.
The investigating team will immediately depart for Kenya and deliver its report to the ministry, according to a statement from the interior ministry.
The panel will investigate the causes and motivations behind Sharif’s departure from Pakistan to Dubai and from Dubai to Kenya, Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah said while confirming the team’s formation.
Sanaullah stated that the investigative team would present the ministry of interior with the final findings.
A judicial committee led by a high court judge will also look into Sharif’s slaying in addition to the two-person team, according to Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.
The military has also requested that the government conduct a high-level investigation into the sad event, according to Lieutenant General Babar Iftikhar, Director General (DG) Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR).
Arshad Sharif was fatally shot in a case of mistaken identity.
While travelling from Kenya’s Magadi town to Nairobi on Sunday night in a “mistaken identity” case, the senior journalist and anchorperson was fatally shot by Kenyan police.
In this regard, Anne Makori, the chairperson of Kenya’s Independent Policing Oversight Authority, acknowledged at a news conference on Monday that Kenyan police shot and killed Pakistani journalist Arshad Muhammad Sharif, 50, on the evening of October 23 in Kajiado County.
“An alleged police death of a Pakistani national occurred last night in Tinga Market in Kajiado County. We’ve already sent out our immediate reaction team, “She said, noting that an inquiry into the incident is ongoing and that the Independent Policing Oversight Authority will conduct an open investigation into Sharif’s murder.
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