Security was momentarily thrown into disarray at State House, Nairobi, on Monday morning after a General Service Unit (GSU) officer stationed at Gate D was killed in a shocking mid-morning assault by a man armed with a spear.
Police sources confirmed that the attacker, whose identity is yet to be made public, approached the highly restricted area posing no immediate threat before suddenly lunging at the officer and striking him fatally. The officer succumbed to his injuries at the scene as colleagues swiftly subdued and disarmed the assailant.
In a chilling confession after his arrest, the man reportedly told investigators that he had been “sent by Satan” to carry out the killing — a statement that has left security agencies grappling with both the psychological state of the suspect and the motive behind the deadly act.
Detectives drawn from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) and the National Intelligence Service (NIS) have since launched a full-scale investigation into the incident. They are probing whether the suspect had any prior connection to the slain officer, or if the attack was purely random.
Security analysts have termed the attack as a serious breach of national security, given the sensitive location where it occurred. “This raises concerns about how close an armed individual managed to reach such a high-security installation,” one analyst who requested anonymity told Channel 15 News.
The body of the officer has been taken to the Kenyatta University Funeral Home as police work to notify his family, while the suspect remains in custody under heavy guard.
Authorities are expected to issue a comprehensive statement outlining preliminary findings as investigations progress.
