A 55-year-old man saved his life in Nyeri on Tuesday night after disarming an assailant who had attacked him with him an AK-47 rifle and stole Sh200.

A lone gunman accosted the man identified as Irungu Mwangi at Chaka Primary school while on his way home at around 8 pm, pointed the gun at him and ordered him to lie down.

Irungu who knew better than to defy the thug’s order obliged with no fuss.

The thug then demanded money from Irungu who removed the only Sh200 he had in his pocket and handed it over to the thug.

However, the thug’s greed was not satisfied and he demanded more from Irungu who at that time was pleading for his life, telling the thug that was all he had.

Undeterred and unconvinced, the criminal placed the firearm on the ground and restrained Irungu on the ground by setting his foot on Irungu’s back before bending over to frisk Irungu.

Little did the thug know that was a miscalculated move as Irungu, in a quick movie-style reached out for the firearm.

The thug struggled to regain possession of the firearm from Irungu who shoved him to the ground and held the firearm in a ready-to-shoot position, leaving the thug with very little to work with.

It was a lucky night for the criminal because Irungu did not know how to fire the weapon. However, the criminal did not take any chances of finding out and scampered to the safety of the darkness.

Police who were called arrived at the scene and established that the firearm, serial number AK47 S/No. KP 4915512, loaded with 15 rounds of ammunition was stolen from Nairutia Police Station in Kieni West Sub-county on April 15, 2022.

The officers also recovered an Administration Police Service beret at the scene of the crime.

Irungu thanked his God for delivering him from the jaws of death and attributed his brave act to occasional peeks at the martial arts training sessions at the National Police College Main Campus in Kiganjo.

Police have since launched a manhunt for Irungu’s assailant.