Kenyan authorities have identified the son of a governmental official as one of four Islamic extremists behind this week's massacre at Garissa University College, the BBC reports.

The attack, which Somalian terror group al-Shabab claimed responsibility for on Thursday, left 148 people dead, mostly students, and another 79 injured. All four gunmen were killed by security forces in the assault.

According to an Interior Ministry spokesperson, shooter Abdirahim Abdullahi was the son of a government chief in Mandera County. Abdullahi, who earned his law degree in 2013 and was described as a "brilliant upcoming lawyer," has been missing since last year, when his father believes he may have traveled to Somalia.

"He was a very brilliant student," one Garissa-based official told Reuters. "But then he got these crazy ideas."

[ Image via AP Images]