JAZAN — A teacher in the south of the Kingdom opened fire on colleagues Thursday, killing at least seven people and wounding three, spokesman of the Interior Ministry said.
The shooting incident took place in the education department in Jazan region on Thursday. The three injured people are said to be in a critical condition at Dayer General Hospital.
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 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.
