Lebanon forces arrest suspect over shooting at US embassy

Lebanese Army investigators inspect bullet holes and collect forensic evidence next to the entrance of the US Embassy in Aukar, a northern suburb of Beirut, Lebanon, Sept. 21, 2023. (AP)
Lebanese Army investigators inspect bullet holes and collect forensic evidence next to the entrance of the US Embassy in Aukar, a northern suburb of Beirut, Lebanon, Sept. 21, 2023. (AP)
Short Url
Updated 26 September 2023
Follow

Lebanon forces arrest suspect over shooting at US embassy

Lebanon forces arrest suspect over shooting at US embassy

BEIRUT: Lebanon’s security forces on Monday said they had arrested a man suspected of firing 15 bullets at the American embassy building in Beirut last week.

A source named the suspect as 26-year-old Lebanon national Muhammad Mahdi Hussein Khalil, who works for a delivery company. The source added that Khalil had previously been convicted of opening fire on a Lebanese public security center.

According to the source, Khalil confessed to shooting at the embassy compound in the Aukar suburb of Beirut, and that the weapon used in the attack had been seized.

Surveillance cameras showed a lone man dressed in black firing a Kalashnikov rifle before fleeing the scene on a motorcycle.

“The shooter carried out his act after previous disputes between him and embassy security over food deliveries,” the source told Arab News.

There were no injuries caused by the shooting late on Wednesday.