An advocate of the High Court is fighting for his life in hospital after being ambushed and shot by gunmen on his way back to the city on Sunday, January 28, morning.
Anthony Gathitu Kabathi, a lawyer with the Kabuthi and Company Advocates law firm in Nairobi, was driving back to Nairobi from a client meeting in Garissa when he was ambushed along the Isiolo-Modogashe Road.
Police say he was attacked near Laga Logo, about five kilometers from a police camp – an area notorious for marauding bandits.
“Our officers received a distress call from members of the public who alerted us that there was a man was bleeding in a car (Toyota Land cruiser V8) that had veered off the road and stalled in a bush,” a statement from police read in part.
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The lawyer sustained severe gunshot wounds to his chest, left hand, thumb, and left side of his abdomen during the ambush.
General Service Unit officers who responded to the scene found the victim’s car doors and boot open and the driver bleeding.
They believe that he was also robbed of an unknown amount of money and other valuables.
The officers, who were in a Mine-Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) vehicle, searched the area and administered first aid to the lawyer before taking him to Isiolo Galaxy Hospital, where he was admitted as they found a way to airlift him to Nairobi.
In August 2023, six people were killed by bandits on the outskirts of Garissa town.
Those killed were a taxi driver and five passengers, among them two students.
Security officers said the six were heading to the border town of Holugho when the bandits attacked them.