Police in Lamu are pursuing a 17-year-old male student from Faza Secondary School in Lamu East suspected of stabbing a fellow student in the school on Monday.
The deceased, Mohamed Bakari 20, was a Form 4 student.
The suspect a Form 3 student whose identity is yet to be revealed is said to be on the run since he committed the offence at the school.
The school has been shut indefinitely and students sent home following the unrest that ensued in the school and neighbouring communities over the incident.
The incident happened during the morning break.
Witnesses said the suspect drew a knife which he had tucked underneath his shirt and went on to stab the deceased from behind as he entered a classroom to talk to a friend.
The deceased died shortly after that while the suspect is said to have fled from the school and has been in hiding since.
Lamu county police commander William Samoei confirmed the incident saying police were pursuing the suspect.
“He is still on the run but police are pursuing him. We are treating this as a murder case. He must be arrested and charged even though he is a juvenile offender,” Samoei said.
The chaos that erupted between the two communities shortly after the incident were so tense that police had to be called in to quell the same as learners vacated the school.
Lamu county education director Joshua Kaaga said all 231 students had been sent home till further notice.
“I have met the school Board of Management members, parents, and security officers to discuss the matter. There’s tension following the incident. I hope that things will be okay to enable the school to resume learning, possibly in a week,” Kaaga said.
Kaaga called on parents to play their role effectively to discipline their children to avert such incidents.
The school principal Hanningtone Shoka described the deceased as a well-behaved and hardworking student whose future looked promising.
“We are yet to find out the motive of the fatal incident. It’s so sad that the school lost one of our best KCPE candidates. It’s sad,” Shoka said.
The deceased was laid to rest that same day on Monday at the Faza Town cemetery as per Muslim traditions.
