A Kenyan police officer has shot dead at least five people in an overnight rampage through the capital, Nairobi, before he shot and killed himself, according to authorities.

The officer first killed his wife in their home, shooting her in the neck, before setting off at 3 am with his service-issued AK-47 rifle and starting to shoot at “innocent members of the public frenziedly”, the police Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) said on Tuesday.

Three of the young men who were killed by the “cop gone rogue” were mourners who had just attended preparations for a funeral, it added.

“After killing the three, the cop then turned his rifle at two boda boda (motorcycle taxi) riders, one of whom lost his life while undergoing treatment at the Kenyatta national hospital,” DCI said, noting that two wounded people were also in critical condition.

Francis Wahome, the officer in charge of Nairobi’s Dagoretti area, confirmed the incident and the death toll but gave no other details.

Angry residents near where the incident took place later set fire to tyres on a road in a protest against the violence, a witness told Reuters news agency.

In a 2010 incident, a police officer in Siakago town, 120km (74 miles) northeast of Nairobi, shot 10 people dead including two of his colleagues.

A police spokesperson said at the time the officer tried to shoot himself but had run out of ammunition, forcing him to surrender to police. Two of the officer’s colleagues were among the victims.

Witnesses said they did not realise what was happening because they mistook the loud sounds for fireworks as Hindus in Kenya were celebrating Diwali.

TodayNG