ELDORET,
Kenya (Reuters) - A gunman and a police officer were killed in an attack on the
home of Kenya's deputy president in the western town of Eldoret, a senior
administrator said on Sunday, just over a week before a national election.
Deputy
President William Ruto and his family were not at home at the time of the
Saturday attack, police said. Ruto is the running mate of President Uhuru
Kenyatta, who is seeking a second and final term in office in the Aug. 8
elections.
"From
the exchange of fire we thought it was more than one attacker, because he used
different firearms, but after we subdued him, we found only one man dead, plus
our officer who he had killed," Wanyama Musiambo, Rift Valley Regional
Coordinator, told reporters at the scene on Sunday.
Musiambo
declined to comment when asked about the motive of the attack, or the
attacker's identity. The deputy president's residence is guarded by an elite
paramilitary police unit.
Musiambo
said the attacker initially had no gun but managed to break into the police
armory once inside the compound.
"I want
to say that after the operation we discovered that it was one gunman, but
because he was inside there, he could change position and firearms because he
had access to the guns. And the guns he was using were ours," he said.
"We
have however launched investigations into the issue, to find out if he
conducted the attack alone or he was with others who may have escaped."
Late on
Saturday, police had initially said the attacker was armed with a machete and
had injured one police officer before holing himself up in an outbuilding.
Ruto and
Kenyatta spent Saturday campaigning in the counties of Kitale, Kericho and
Narok, the president's office said in a statement. Neither commented on the
incident.
A Reuters
reporter near Ruto's compound said he saw several police vehicles going in and
out of the compound, as well as one armored vehicle in the compound.
The reporter
said he also saw one armored vehicle in the compound.
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