Police have shot dead three suspected armed robbers and are in pursuit of three others following a fierce shootout at Alfa Center, Mombasa Road, Nairobi. 

The Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI), in a statement Tuesday, said the suspects had just staged a robbery and were headed to commit another crime before they were waylaid by the detectives from the Special Service Unit.

DCI boss George Kinoti said they received information of the intended robbery when they accosted the suspects. 

“My officers based at the DCI anonymous hotline center had received information from a concerned citizen that armed men were about to commit a robbery along a specific area in Mombasa road. They moved with speed towards Mombasa road at Alfa center and laid an ambush,” Kinoti said. 

Minutes later, six suspicious-looking men who matched the descriptions given by the caller approached the detectives’ vehicle.

The armed thugs then defied orders to surrender and fired at the officers, shattering one of the side mirrors of their Subaru hatchback.

A fierce gunfight ensued leaving three of the suspects dead.

Police recovered a pistol, ammunition, one toy pistol, a laptop and six assorted mobile phones from the thugs.

The bodies of the suspects are at the City mortuary.