A man who was shot at close range by a Kenyan police officer during anti-police brutality protests in Nairobi is currently alive but in critical condition, his father confirmed on Wednesday. The demonstrations erupted in both the capital and in Mombasa following the controversial death of blogger and teacher Albert Ojwang while in police custody earlier this month.
Footage shared on the X account of Citizen Television on Tuesday captured two police officers repeatedly striking a man, later identified as 22-year-old Boniface Kariuki, before one of them fired a long-barreled firearm at him as he attempted to walk away.
Law enforcement authorities announced late Tuesday that an officer had been taken into custody in connection with the shooting.
Speaking on Wednesday, June 18, 2025, Boniface’s father, Jonah Kariuki, confirmed that his son remains in the intensive care unit at Kenyatta National Hospital, Nairobi’s largest public medical facility.
“He is on machine support,”
Kariuki said in a video posted on X by The Standard newspaper.
“I have seen he has a heartbeat … I have some hope.”
A Reuters journalist present at the scene on Tuesday reported seeing Boniface lying on the ground, his head bleeding profusely while he clutched a packet of face masks in one hand.
“He was selling masks, it’s not that he is a criminal. I have never heard him steal,”
the elder Kariuki said.
The demonstrations were triggered by the death of 31-year-old Albert Ojwang, whose passing reignited public outrage over persistent allegations of extrajudicial killings by security forces in Kenya. Initially, police claimed that Ojwang had died by suicide while in custody. However, following an independent autopsy that confirmed he died from assault-related injuries, police retracted their initial statement and issued an apology.
President William Ruto also publicly acknowledged the misconduct, stating that Ojwang had died “at the hands of the police.”
In response to the growing concerns, Kenya’s judiciary, the Law Society of Kenya, and multiple human rights organizations have voiced alarm over what they describe as a disturbing rise in reported incidents of police brutality across the country.
