Two killed in Riyadh school shooting

JEDDAH/RIYADH: Two teachers were killed in a shooting at Kingdom Schools in north Riyadh Wednesday morning, in an act that the school’s chairman described as “a case of a disgruntled employee.”
The shooter, an Iraqi former Islamic studies teacher, was dismissed from the school four years ago due to “anger issues and an unstable personality,” Talal Al-Maiman, CEO of Kingdom Holding and chairman of Kingdom Schools, said in a statement issued after the incident.
An American-Palestinian sectional head died immediately, and the other teacher, a Saudi, died upon admission to the nearby Kingdom Hospital, said school sources. A worker was injured.
The situation at the school was “contained” by mid-afternoon, said Al-Maiman, adding that the school’s private security guards “followed established procedures” until the case was handed over to government authorities. “Our thoughts and prayers are with all those who have been affected by the incident,” he said.
The official Twitter account of the US Mission in Saudi Arabia has posted a warning to avoid the area.
The tweet, which was posted Wednesday around 2 p.m. local time, said: “Shooter still at school. School closed, no children present. Please avoid area.”
Another tweet around 3:15 p.m. local time said: “Ongoing security incident at Kingdom School as of 3 p.m. local time. Please avoid area due to heavy police presence.”
Schools closed before Ramadan following a royal decree that studies would be concluded before the start of the fasting month.
Riyadh police had not issued a statement at the time of print.