At least two people were shot and wounded in a failed kidnapping drama in Lari area, Limuru, Kiambu County.
The victims included the owner of a car that had apparently been carjacked from Langata in Nairobi up to Kimende on the Nakuru-Nairobi highway, police said.
The second victim was a female by stander who was shot and wounded in the abdomen in the Wednesday drama.
Police said they rescued two suspected carjackers behind the said drama and recovered a pistol with an empty magazine.
Area subcounty police commander Adamson Furaha the businessman was carjacked by the thugs from Lang’ata area in Nairobi, and the thugs were demanding money so that they could release him.
“The vehicles were moving, but they were slowed by a traffic jam, but when locals heard the gunshot from the car, a lorry that was ahead of them blocked the car and locals approached,” the police boss said at his office on Thursday.
The team is trying to establish if the weapon has been used in other crimes and if it is legally owned.
The suspects and the victims are in hospital in the area ahead of further grilling and processing.
According to police, the suspects picked the victim identified as Ben Matu from Langata after a carjacking and drove in his Toyota Fielder car up to Kimende.
On reaching at the shopping centre, they demanded Sh2 million as ransom from him or else they kill him.
Matu told police a confrontation broke out between him and the gunmen prompting one of them to shoot him in the abdomen.
This attracted the attention of the public in the area who started to chase the suspected gunmen.
It was in the chaos that a bystander was also shot and wounded in the stomach.
Police said the suspects started to run away for their safety with a mob after their lives.
They shot to the air to scare the mob in vain. According to police, the suspects ran out of their bullets as a rescue team approached the scene.
By then, the mob had cornered the two and was subjecting them to mob injustice.
The mob wanted to lynch the two. Police arrived at the scene and saved the two from being lynched. Police said they area admitted to hospital in the area.
A probe into the drama is ongoing.