He told Al-Watan newspaper the attacker was a worker who loved his job and was always punctual, but he had already stabbed him during an apparent dispute over sick leave.
“Allah saved me for the second time from the same person, and this time it happened on the day of my retirement,” he said.
A Saudi employee was killed and two Indians wounded in a shooting rampage by the sacked Saudi young man.
The 48-year-old manager expressed surprise over the young man’s attempt to kill him for the second time.
“I gave him a higher evaluation grade than many of his colleagues in appreciation of his sincerity and dedication to work. But I don’t know what prompted him to commit such a crime,” he said.
“Last year, the young man phoned me and asked for sick leave. I advised him to produce a sick note from the hospital to avoid any salary cut. The next day he came to the office in the evening. When I asked about the note, he suddenly took out a knife and stabbed me in my stomach while screaming ‘this is the leave,’” he recalled.
He said his attacker then handed over the knife to the security guard, rushed to the police station and surrendered.
“While I was at hospital, his brother approached and asked me to withdraw my complaint against the attacker,” he said.
“After being discharged from hospital, I went to the court along with his brother and completed the necessary paperwork. But the court jailed him for one year after convicting him on the grounds of public right,” he said adding that the young man was freed after a few months, taking advantage of a royal pardon.
The manager said he was at his office to complete his retirement procedures when the employee, who was sacked, made his way to the office. “The shooting rampage happened on the last day of my duty at the company. My brother, who also works at the company, phoned and told me to leave the company premises at once as the young man, who was carrying a revolver, was looking for me,” he said.
“Immediately I fled from the company and I do not know what happened then. After half an hour, I got another call saying that the young man, who really intended to kill me, had gone on a shooting spree at the office,” he said.
Zaki Al-Ajami, a 35-year-old Saudi employee, was killed and two Indians seriously injured in the attack at the office block of the company based in Dammam’s First Industrial City.
Meanwhile, Col. Nabeel Al-Orfaj, police spokesman in the Eastern Province, said the suspect was handed over to the Prosecution and Investigation Commission for further interrogation and investigation prior to referring the case to the local court.
He said the Indians who were treated for bullet wounds are stable.
According to sources, the suspect confessed his crime to PIC officials. The young man admitted that his real intention was to kill the manager following an earlier dispute with him.