<p>NAIROBI, Kenya — Kenya’s head of criminal investigations said Friday that police now believe that a man who grabbed a gun from a police officer and shot randomly at people a week ago, killing two and seriously wounding six, is likely an Islamic extremist.</p>
<p>The incident occurred in Kenya’s third largest city, Kisumu, on the shores of Lake Victoria, that has never experienced an extremist attack.</p>
<p>Circulating CCTV close-ups of the man, George Kinoti asked the public to help identify the assailant, who was later killed by a mob when he ran out of bullets, as police have been unable to trace his background. No one has come to claim the man’s body, he said.</p>
<p>Kinoti said detectives, working with the anti-terrorism unit, “have reasons to believe that the assailant was not just the ordinary criminal, but prior to the attack received training in tactical maneuvers and weapon handling.”</p>
<p>“Given our experience, our preliminary conclusion (is that) he is an Islamic extremist. We want to know if he was alone or there is a cell or network remaining, we urge for public support to identify him,” Kinoti told the Associated Press. </p>
<p>Three identification cards found on the man belonged to three different people who do not know the assailant, he said.</p>
<p>According to a police report the man, wearing gloves and a hood overpowered a police officer, grabbed his gun and shot him. </p>
<p>No group has claimed responsibility for the shooting, but since 2011 Kenya has experienced numerous terrorist attacks from the al-Qaida-linked al-Shabab group that is based in Somalia. </p>
<p>Al-Shabab has recruited most of its foreign fighters from Kenya, which has a large ethnic Somali presence, as well as from other tribes.</p>
<p>If police establish a connection between the assailant and al-Shabab it will be the first Islamic extremist attack on a major city since al-Shabab’s January 15 2019 raid on an office complex in Nairobi that killed 21 people.</p>
<p>Al-Shabab has vowed retribution on Kenya for sending troops to Somalia in 2011 to fight the militants who are trying to topple the government and establish an Islamic state.</p>
<p>More recently the group’s attacks have focused on five counties in Kenya that border Somalia.</p>
