A male suspect is in custody over the murder of four toddlers aged two to three, police have said

A man armed with a knife killed four children in an attack on a kindergarten in Uganda's capital, Kampala, on Thursday, police said, in a rare assault on schoolchildren in the East African country.

According to the Daily Monitor local newspaper, the suspect gained access to the Ggaba Early Childhood Development Program school in Makindye Division by posing as a parent. He first entered the school offices and briefly spoke to the administrator in charge, then went back outside, locked the gate and attacked the children, the outlet reported.

"We confirm a tragic incident at the Ggaba Early Childhood Development Program school in Makindye Division, Kampala City, where a male suspect brutally stabbed and killed four juveniles," Kampala police spokesperson Rachael Kawala said.

In a separate statement, the Ugandan Police Force identified the suspect as 39-year-old Okello Christopher Onyum and said investigations were ongoing to determine the motive behind the fatal assault on his victims, who were aged between two and three.

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According to multiple outlets, the suspect tried to flee after the attack but was caught by an angry mob that attempted to lynch him. The military and police intervened by firing shots into the air to disperse the crowd before the suspect was taken into custody.

Mob justice against suspects is not uncommon in Uganda, and the authorities have repeatedly warned against extrajudicial retaliation. Earlier on Thursday, police said 950 murders by mob action were recorded in 2025, down from 1,016 the previous year.

Attacks on schoolchildren are rare in Uganda, though the country has suffered notable past cases. In 2023, suspected Allied Democratic Forces rebels killed more than 40 people in a stabbing, shooting, and arson rampage at Lhubiriha Secondary School in Kasese district.

The last widely cited comparable incident was the 1998 Kichwamba Technical College massacre, in which 80 students were reportedly killed and more than 100 others abducted.