The Kampala wedding massacre was a

mass murder Mass murder is the act of murdering a number of people, typically simultaneously or over a relatively short period of time and in close geographic proximity. The United States Congress defines mass killings as the killings of three or more pe ...

that occurred at a

wedding A wedding is a ceremony where two people are united in marriage. Wedding traditions and customs vary greatly between cultures, ethnic groups, religions, countries, and social classes. Most wedding ceremonies involve an exchange of marriage vo ...

party in the

Naguru Naguru is a village and panchayat in Garugubilli mandal in Parvathipuram Manyam district of Andhra Pradesh, India. Naguru is a small village with a population of around 5000. Most of the people are employed in cultivation and cattle. Naguru was ...

neighbourhood of

Kampala Kampala (, ) is the capital and largest city of Uganda. The city proper has a population of 1,680,000 and is divided into the five political divisions of Kampala Central Division, Kawempe Division, Makindye Division, Nakawa Division, and Ruba ...

Uganda }), is a landlocked country in East Africa East Africa, Eastern Africa, or East of Africa, is the eastern subregion of the African continent. In the United Nations Statistics Division scheme of geographic regions, 10-11-(16*) territor ...

on 26 June 1994. The perpetrator, Richard Komakech, shot and killed 26 people at the party before he was apprehended and subsequently killed in revenge.

Massacre

Richard Komakech, a

private Private or privates may refer to: Music * " In Private", by Dusty Springfield from the 1990 album ''Reputation'' * Private (band), a Denmark-based band * "Private" (Ryōko Hirosue song), from the 1999 album ''Private'', written and also recorde ...

in the Ugandan

military police Military police (MP) are law enforcement agencies connected with, or part of, the military of a state. In wartime operations, the military police may support the main fighting force with force protection, convoy security, screening, rear recon ...

, was attending the wedding when he requested a female guest, Irene Ati, to dance with him. Ati declined the offer, but Komakech repeatedly insisted she dance with him to the point he became aggressive and had to be separated from her. Komakech began rioting and was expelled from the festivities. The drunken private then went to fetch a

semi-automatic rifle A semi-automatic rifle is an autoloading rifle that fires a single cartridge with each pull of the trigger, and uses part of the fired cartridge's energy to eject the case and load another cartridge into the chamber. For comparison, a bolt-act ...

and returned to the party about ten minutes later. Komakech first killed Irene Ati, and then started shooting randomly at the guests, in which 14 people died on the spot (including Irene Ati) and 12 more later died in hospital, while 13 others were seriously wounded. Komakech eventually attempted to commit

suicide Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Mental disorders (including depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, personality disorders, anxiety disorders), physical disorders (such as chronic fatigue syndrome), and s ...

with his rifle by shooting himself in the mouth, though he suffered only wounds to his forehead and pretended to be dead until police arrived. Although officers who apprehended Komakech tried to prevent the guests from killing him, Irene Ati's father managed to break through the police cordon and killed Komakech by smashing in his

skull The skull is a bone protective cavity for the brain. The skull is composed of four types of bone i.e., cranial bones, facial bones, ear ossicles and hyoid bone. However two parts are more prominent: the cranium and the mandible. In humans, the ...

. By the end of the massacre 27 people had been killed.Amok an Hochzeit, ''

Blick ''Blick'' is a Swiss German-language daily newspaper, and online news website covering current affairs, entertainment, sports and lifestyle. History and profile ''Blick'' was established in 1959. The newspaper was the first Swiss tabloid publi ...

'' (28 June 1994)

References

{{coord missing, Uganda Attacks on weddings Murder–suicides in Africa Mass murder in 1994 Massacres in 1994 Massacres in Uganda 1994 crimes in Uganda History of Kampala Spree shootings in Uganda 20th century in Kampala June 1994 events in Africa 1990s murders in Uganda

Massacre

See also

References