A senior police officer died by suicide after shooting himself in the chin in Utawala, Nairobi.
Superintendent Ezra Ouma shot himself in his house Thursday afternoon moments after he had called his friend who is also a police officer and told her he would die by suicide.
Ouma was in charge of the Special Operations Bureau (SOB) at Kayole police division.
He was due for retirement in two years, his colleagues said.
He is a former OCS Jogoo and OC Traffic Makueni.
Police who visited the scene said Ouma had also shot a neighbor in the left leg after he tried to stop him from his mission.
The 35-year-old man was rushed to hospital in serious condition.
The motive of the suicide is not known but other colleagues said he had been a victim of extortion and threats.
Police found his body lying at a local hospital where he had been rushed to.
A Beretta pistol with 12 bullets was found beside the body.
The body was moved to a local mortuary pending autopsy.
This is the latest such incident in a series to be reported.
Dozens of police officers have died as a result of suicide a trend that is attributed to stress at work.
As part of efforts to address the trend, police authorities have launched counseling services and the National Police Service Commission has established a unit and staffed it to attend to their demanding situation.
The counseling unit will, among other things, evaluate, design, and lead an outreach program that helps prevent mental health and substance abuse.
At least three suicide cases involving police officers are recorded every month.
Officials say police are generally on the receiving end of all community problems.
They are expected to maintain law and order in very difficult situations, besides putting their lives at risk.
Over the years, a spike in deaths in the service has been linked to trauma.
They include deaths by gun.
