Man shot dead after stabbing outside US embassy in Kenya

A man has been shot and killed by police after stabbing an officer with a knife outside the US embassy in Kenya, Nairobi.

Police allege the 24-year-old Kenyan attempted to grab a gun from one of the officers near the public entrance to the visa section of the US embassy yesterday. 

A scuffle ensued during which the man reportedly pulled out a knife and stabbed one officer before being fatally shot in the head by another.

"The man was shot after stabbing a GSU officer in the hand and left him with injuries," local police chief Vitalis Otieno said. 

The police officer involved in the shooting was a member of the paramilitary General Services Unit (GSU) deployed to guard the embassy.

He remains in a stable condition in hospital.

A photograph shared on social media showed the body of the alleged attacker lying on the pavement, a pool of blood staining the tarmac by his head, and surrounded by police officers.

Five US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) officers were also present at the scene alongside around a dozen Kenyan officers.

Soon after the incident the busy road was opened to traffic which drove slowly by the body still lying prone on the ground.

A statement from the US embassy confirmed the "shooting incident", adding that "no embassy personnel were involved".

Motive for the man's actions remain unknown and police investigations are ongoing. 

"We are investigating to know if there are other accomplices, and if he had been sent by anyone, so that we can get to apprehend them,"Mr Otieno told reporters at the scene.

The well-guarded US embassy in Nairobi is located opposite the main UN complex in Gigiri, an upmarket suburb in the city's north popular with expatriates.

With AFP