Four children – aged between one and three – have been “brutally stabbed and killed” at a nursery school in the Ugandan capital, Kampala, police said.
The three boys and a girl were killed instantly, said a police spokesperson, who added that the suspect had used more than one knife during the attack.
A 34-year-old man has been detained but “the motive behind the killings is still under investigation”, Uganda’s police force added in a brief statement on X.
Angry parents had tried to lynch him before he was detained, news agency AFP quotes police spokesperson Racheal Kawala as saying.
Kawala said the suspect had visited the school earlier this week to enquire about enrolling his child and was told to return on Thursday.
“He paid for admission [and] after that proceeded and attacked these children, killing four of them instantly,” she said.
The other 10 children who were in the Ggaba Early Childhood Development Program School at the time have been handed back to their parents, she added.
Investigators are at the scene and Kawala said more details would be provided later. Police chief Abas Byakagaba and other senior officers have also been at the school and been briefed on what had happened.
Byakagaba urged the public to remain calm while the police continue to do their work.
The tragic incident has sent shock waves across the country, raising serious concerns about the safety of learners in the East African nation.
Videos of the aftermath being shared on social media show images of crowds of angry and distressed people, believed to be parents seeking news of their children.
