An attack at a Kenyan college left nearly 150 people dead on Thursday. 

Armed gunmen stormed Garissa University College and opened fire, killing 147 and injuring 79. The Somalia-based Al-Shabaab Islamist militant group took responsibility for the massacre. 

"It is a very sad day for Kenya," Interior Ministry Joseph Nkaissery said of the deadly attack. 

Witnesses said the gunmen interrupted morning prayer services and took over the campus - shooting students and taking hostages along the way. AFP reported that the students were separated by religion, with Muslims being allowed to leave and Christians being taken. 

"We were sleeping when we heard a loud explosion that was followed by gunshots and everyone started running for safety," student Japhet Mwala recounted. 

"There are those who were not able to leave the hostels where the gunmen headed and started firing. I am lucky to be alive because I jumped through the fence with other students."

Authorities cornered the militants in one of the campus' four dorms, and four of the militants were killed. It is unclear if any police officers were killed or injured, but Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta called on the inspector-general of police "to take urgent steps" to secure more officers.

According to CNN, 10,000 recruits were ordered to "promptly report for training at the Kenya Police College, Kiganjo." 

"I take full responsibility for this directive," Kenyatta said. "We have suffered unnecessarily due to a shortage of security personnel. Kenya badly needs additional officers, and I will not keep the nation waiting."

The police instituted a 12-hour curfew in the area, and published "wanted" posters for  Mohamed Mohamud, alias Dulyadin and Gamadhere, in connection to the attack. Mohamud's alleged involvement in the mass shooting is unclear. 

The US Embassy in Nairobi condemned the attack and offered condolences to the friends and family of the 147 victims.