Two guards and a customer were stabbed and seriously injured in an attack inside a bank in Nairobi West.

The attacker who stabbed the guards and the customer at the bank was shot and seriously wounded by police who were guarding the Equity Bank, Nairobi West Branch.

He was shot inside the bank causing panic.

The middle-aged man was taken to the hospital in critical condition, police said.

The motive of the attack is yet to be known as the man was alone during the attack.

But Langata police boss Monica Kimani said preliminary findings show he wanted money from the bank.

“He says he wanted money from the bank. We don’t know if he was alone for now,” she said.

Police said they suspect he was targeting some money that was being delivered by G4S personnel at the bank on Ghandi Avenue.

Kimani said they were reviewing CCTV footage in the bank to establish if he was working alone or in the company of others. He had gone straight to the managers/operations office where the guard tried to stop him.

He then reached for a knife and stabbed him in the leg and later attacked a second one before hitting a customer.

The police boss said the assailant had reached the manager’s office and threatened her while demanding money.

He was shot in the bank by police.

The attack comes in the wake of increased deployment of undercover detectives in the city, as police take steps to destabilise criminal gangs that regroup after the general election.

There has been an increase in violent crimes in parts of the city as gangs attack for valuables and cash. Police advise victims to cooperate with the attackers for their own safety.