The assailant entered the Gaba Early Childhood Development Program in Kampala by posing as a parent, according to a report. He first went into the school offices, where he briefly spoke with the administrator in charge, then stepped outside, locked the gate, and began attacking the children, the report indicates. The incident occurred at the Ggaba Early Childhood Development Program school in Makindye Division, Kampala City, a police spokeswoman confirmed.
The attacker brutally stabbed and killed four juveniles, as stated in a police statement, with the children dying on the spot, according to the police spokeswoman. Such attacks on children are rare in Kampala, a city of roughly 3 million people, multiple reports note. According to local media, 14 children were at the kindergarten at the time of the attack, highlighting the scale of the potential tragedy.
According to preliminary police investigations, the man had visited the kindergarten on two previous days and had attempted to enroll his own child. He had reportedly been told to return on Thursday when he spoke to the daycare director and paid admission for his child before launching his stabbing spree, a report details. The suspect has been apprehended, as confirmed in a police statement.
Police and military personnel fired warning shots into the air to disperse crowds before arresting the suspect, according to research. The suspect later was taken into custody, police spokesman Kituuma Rusoke stated. A contradiction exists over who first apprehended the suspect.
A security guard from a nearby church apprehended the suspect, local media reports. Angry residents of the upmarket Ggaba district attempted to lynch the suspected assailant as he tried to escape, local media reports. Police fired in the air to disperse an angry crowd that gathered near the school, apparently trying to lynch the suspect, a fact confirmed by authorities.
In the aftermath, video footage aired by local broadcaster NTV showed some parents weeping, as multiple sources attest. Videos on social media showed distressed parents outside the cordoned-off nursery, anxiously seeking news of their children and demanding their release. Police said the bodies of the four victims had been taken to a mortuary and that the other ten children had been reunited with their parents, providing a measure of relief amid the tragedy.
Inspector General of Police (IGP) Abas Byakagaba attended the scene and called for calm, according to research. Key unknowns remain under investigation. The motive behind the killings is still under investigation, police state, with a motive for the attack unknown, according to police spokesman Kituuma Rusoke.
Further unknowns involve security lapses and preventive measures, as authorities have not yet detailed how the attacker bypassed security protocols or what steps will be taken to prevent similar incidents in the future.