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The second suspect in Wells Fargo HR manager Willis Ayieko’s murder, who escaped a police shootout on Wednesday night, has been shot dead in Polyview Estate, Kisumu County.
Police in Kisumu on Thursday 31st Oct 2024 afternoon gunned down the suspect linked to the killing of the Wells Fargo HR manager.
According to Nyanza Regional Police Boss Patrick Tito, the said suspect was on the run from Gem, Siaya County and had checked into a hotel near Kisumu Polytechnic last night.
Police reported that he attempted to shoot at the officers, prompting a shootout that left him dead.
“The team was tracking him down and managed to get him into a guest house he had checked in. He resisted to open and opened fire, prompting the team to respond,” Tito said.
He added they recovered a pistol from the suspect. The incident happened at about midday on Thursday.
This increased to two, the number of suspects killed so far in the fiasco. Police say they are looking for at least two more suspects in the murder of Ayieko.
Another lady suspect who had been injured in a shootout in Gem died in hospital on Wednesday morning.
The suspect, who had been rushed to a hospital in Yala, Siaya County, succumbed to the injuries she sustained in a police shooting in Wangai, Gem.
According to police, she was among two female suspects earlier arrested on Wednesday morning in a dramatic chase.
Police in Siaya, Gem Wagai sub-county, recovered a pistol belonging to Ayieko.
This firearm had been robbed from him on the night he was murdered. The recovery was made following a tip-off from members of the public, reporting that two individuals—one male and one female—were seen with a gun in a Toyota Axio at Wagai Trading Centre.
Responding, officers from Wagai Police Station flagged down the suspect’s vehicle, but the male driver defied the orders and instead opened fire on the police while speeding off towards Luanda, police said.
This prompted a hot chase that ended at Adder Farm within the Kagilo area, where the vehicle lost control and rolled over on the left side of the road.
The driver managed to escape, leaving behind the female passenger, who was injured and unconscious. It is the driver who was killed in Kisumu on Thursday. Upon searching the vehicle, police recovered a pistol loaded with 11 rounds of ammunition, which was identified as the firearm robbed from Ayieko.
The woman was taken to a hospital in Yala, but sadly, she succumbed to her injuries hours later, police said.
A heightened pursuit of the fleeing suspect led Gem Yala detectives to his rented house at Sagam Trading Centre within Kanyibwop village, where a jungle green sweater and military pair of shorts, two pairs of desert storm jungle boots, two TV sets (40″ and 32″) a laptop and a watch among others were recovered.
Detectives are pursuing at least six suspects in connection with the murder of Ayieko so far, three have been arrested, with one of them being placed at the scene of the attack.
Director of Directorate of Criminal Investigations Mohamed Amin said they are targeting a gang of six to seven people.
Amin said the motive is yet to be established, indicating those arrested so far were not directly involved in the murder of Ayieko.
They, however, had an indirect link to the murder and police are interrogating them for more information.
“We have not been able to conclude that this was the motive of the killing, but we are progressing well. We are targeting a gang of six to seven people, and we are zeroing in on them,” he said.
He added detectives are now searching for more known suspects in connection with the abduction, robbery with violence and murder of Ayieko.
