Kenyan authorities have identified one of the four gunmen who killed 148 people at a Kenyan university last week as the son of a government official.    

Officials named the gunman as Abdirahim Mohammed Abdullahi, son of an official at the Mandera County. The father had reported his son missing since last year, with fears that he had gone to Somalia.  Kenyan security forces killed Abdullahi, along with the three other gunmen during the attack at the Garissa University in Nairobi.  All four were believed to be members of the Al-Shabab Somalia-based militant group.

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The 20-year-old Abdullahi was studying law and had been a top student at the Nairobi University before he left his family and went missing.  Interior Ministry spokesman, Mwenda Njoka said Abdullahi appeared to have become one of a number of young Muslim Kenyan men who have been radicalized and lured into joining the Al-Shabab training camps in Somalia.

"The family told us that he became withdrawn and very critical of everything and everyone," Njoka said. "The family is Muslim, but Abdirahim criticized them about how they behaved and worshipped. At first, the parents thought he was just being a typical teenager, until he disappeared," Njoka added.

Young men and women in Kenya were enticed to join the al-Shabab group offering them false promises and 'meaningful life'.  The Somalia-based militant group, which had earlier pledged allegiance to al-Qaeda, had claimed responsibility for the Kenyan university massacre that killed scores of people.  The attack was Kenya's deadliest since the U.S. Embassy bombing in 1998 that killed 142 students. The group had also carried out bombings in Uganda.

Kenya began its three-day national mourning on Sunday that overshadowed the country's celebration of Easter.  A day that used to be a time of jubilation turned moments of grief and sorrow.

Security was tight as the archbishop delivered his message during the Easter Sunday services.

"These terrorists want to cause divisions in our society, but we shall tell them, 'You will never prevail,'" the archbishop said.

Flags were raised at half mast, as President Uhuru Kenyatta vowed to put the perpetrators to justice.  The president also vowed to retaliate "in the severest way possible". 

Despite the massacre and threats of a terrorist attack, the White House said that President Barack Obama will still push through with his planned Kenya visit in July.

TagsKenya massacre, massacre, Kenya, al-shabab, terror, attack, Al-qaeda