Saudi teacher shoots dead seven colleagues in Jazan

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Saturday 13 Feb 2016 - 13:30 Makkah mean time-4-5-1437 Jazan (IINA) –  A cross-section of Saudi society on Friday denounced the massacre that shook the nation on Thursday, when a teacher went on the rampage killing seven colleagues and injuring several others in Al-Dair governorate in the southern Jazan province. The three injured people are said to be in a critical condition at Dayer General Hospital, spokesman of the Interior Ministry said. Authorities have taken swift action and termed the incident as a criminal act. “Authorities are treating the attack as criminal and the attacker has been arrested,” Interior Ministry spokesman Gen. Mansour Al-Turki said. Local sources told Okaz Arabic daily that the arrested person is Abdullah Jaber Al-Malki, a teacher in Islamic Education who was given the ‘Ideal Teacher’ award. Those who died following the firing are Hussein Al-Malki, Hassan Musa Al-Malki, Mohammed Al-Malki, Sultan Al-Malki, Hassan Mohammed Al-Malki, Hassan Jabbar Al-Malki and Abdullah Johali. Abdullah Al-Malki, who is 30 years old, used a Kalashnikov while storming the education department in Bani Malik, Jazan. Reports on the state television channel’s website and Twitter account did not elaborate or offer a reason for the shooting at the education department building. State TV posted a still photograph that showed ambulances gathered outside the building where the shooting took place in Jazan province. Mass shootings are rare in the Kingdom. Saudi Arabia has faced a series of recent attacks claimed by Daesh (the so-called IS) militants. Saudi Arabia is leading a coalition of countries conducting airstrikes and ground operations in neighboring Yemen in support of the country’s internationally recognized government. It is fighting against Iranian-backed Houthi rebels and supporters of a former president, who control the capital and other parts of the country. Jazan, on the Kingdom’s southern border with Yemen, has been targeted by missiles and cross-border fire since Saudi Arabia intervened in the conflict. On Tuesday, authorities said they shot down a ballistic missile targeting the city and that a police officer in the surrounding province was killed in a separate shooting incident. In October, two people were killed and another two were wounded when a gunman opened fire inside a bank in the city of Jazan. HA/IINA