Kampala wedding massacre
| Kampala wedding massacre | |
|---|---|
  Naguru Naguru (Uganda) | |
| Location | Naguru, Uganda |
| Date | 26 June 1994 |
| Target | Wedding guests |
Attack type | Mass shooting, mass murder |
| Weapons | Semi-automatic rifle |
| Deaths | 27 (including the perpetrator) |
| Injured | 13 |
| Perpetrator | Richard Komakech |
| Motive | Rejection, alcohol intoxication |
On 26 June 1994, a mass shooting took place in the Naguru neighbourhood of Kampala, Uganda. During a wedding party, Uganda People's Defence Force soldier Richard Komakech shot and killed 26 people at the party before being killed by a victim's father during his arrest.[1][2]
Massacre
Richard Komakech, a private in the Anti-Smuggling Unit[3][4] of the Ugandan military police,[5] was attending the wedding party in Naguru,[3] apparently drunk,[6] when he requested a dance from Irene Ati,[3] a schoolgirl.[6] Ati declined the offer, but Komakech insisted and attempted to force Ati to dance with him.[6] Komakech behaved increasingly aggressive, for which he was reprimanded,[5] kicked out of the venue, and excluded from further attendance.[6]
Komakech left, but returned around ten minutes later, wielding a loaded semi-automatic rifle.[5] After fatally shooting Irene Ati,[6] Komakech fired into the crowd of dancing couples at random.[5][6] Ten people, including Ati, were killed instantly while another four died of their injuries at the scene.[5] Twelve more people died at hospitals, bringing the death toll to 26,[4][6] while thirteen others survived with severe injuries.[4] The majority of victims were teenagers.[6]
Komakech eventually shot himself in the head, but survived with injuries to the forehead, pretending to be dead until police arrival.[6] Officers discovered Komakech alive and initially prevented survivors of the shooting from lynching him. The father of a killed female victim ultimately broke through the police cordon and attacked Komakech, killing him by crushing his skull.[6]
See also
References
- ↑ Amokläufer tötet 26 Gäste einer Hochzeitsfeier, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (28 June 1994)
- ↑ Amok an Hochzeit, Blick (28 June 1994)
- 1 2 3 24 Killed for a dance, The Daily Topic (28 June 1994)
- 1 2 3 "UPDF soldier shoots 10 dead over woman". Daily Monitor. 20 January 2021.
- 1 2 3 4 5 Soldier kills 14, then turns gun on himself, New Straits Times (28 June 1994)
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Amoklauf eines ugandischen Soldaten - 26 Hochzeitsgäste erschossen, Neue Zürcher Zeitung (28 June 1994), p. 20