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Ggaba, Uganda | URN | A machete-wielding man has this afternoon attacked a Ggaba daycare centre in Kabuuma zone near Lake Victoria, hacking four school children to death. Police in Kampala have arrested and identified the suspect, 39-year-old Christopher Okello Onyum.
Kampala Metropolitan Police spokesperson Racheal Kawala confirmed the incident, but it was not yet clear the suspect’s motive and state of mind.
According to police, at around 1100 am, officers at Ggaba Police Station responded to a distress call reporting an individual allegedly attacking children at Ggaba Early Childhood Development Program, a daycare centre located in Ggaba Parish, Makindye Division, Kampala City.
Kawala confirmed the suspect has been arrested and mentioned that Inspector General of Police Abas Byakagaba is visiting the crime scene.
According to an eyewitness, the assailant posed as a parent dropping off a child, gaining entrance to the school. The guard was outside, and the attacker targeted kids on the seesaw.
“The suspect entered the school and told the teachers that he had come to register a child, and then shortly after, he moved outside of the office and went to the playground where children were playing on the seesaw,” a witness said. “He pulled out a machete and started cutting the kids.”
Witnesses at the crime scene said the assailant was arrested by another security guard while chasing a fifth child. Later, security personnel fired bullets and teargas to disperse angry residents who wanted to lynch the suspect.
Responding officers managed to arrest Okello at the scene. The deceased have been identified as Gideon Eteku, Kaise Alungat, Ignatius Sserwange and Ryan Odeke, all children under five years.
The suspect is currently under interrogation as investigations continue to establish his motive, background, and any other relevant circumstances surrounding the heinous crime.
