Security forces are still on the lookout for the armed suspects responsible for the killing of two police guards at the maximum-security Al-Ruwais Prison on Thursday, according to Maj. Gen. Mansour Al-Turki, spokesman for the Interior Ministry.A senior security source also said that the four suspects arrested in a blue Nissan sedan in another incident on Palestine Street shortly after the shooting are not considered suspects in the crime at this time. “No one was arrested in Thursday’s armed confrontation that resulted in the death of two security men,” Al-Turki said. “Security forces are currently investigating the incident to identify and arrest the perpetrators.”
The two dead officers were identified as Owaidh Al-Hudaili and Mutlak Al-Olayani. Three policemen were injured during the confrontation. They were identified as Mishaal Al-Otaibi, Atiyyah Al-Zahrani and Hussein Al-Zahrani. “The first two are recovering at Bakhsh Hospital while Hussein has been transferred to King Abdul Aziz Hospital in Mahjar for intensive treatment,” said a security source on condition of anonymity.
Sayyed Muhammad, an Egyptian working at Al-Ikhwa gas station located at the front of the entrance to the building where the gunmen took up their positions, said that the incident took place at about 3:25 p.m. and lasted about 15 minutes. He said he believed the men discharged their weapons from the second or third floor of the building.
According to the Arabic daily Al-Watan, the attackers targeted the prison in an attempt to free some inmates. The report said that five suspected extremists (two Yemenis, two Pakistanis and a Syrian) were arrested Wednesday and that the incident may be linked to them. Life is back to normal in JeddahÂ’s Sharafiah district where the prison is located. The Al-Ikhwa gas station, which was shut down soon after the shooting, has since reopened.
The prison shooting took place a few hours before a major football match between Al-Ahli and Al-Hilal teams at Prince Abdullah Al-Faisal Stadium south of Jeddah. Many Saudi soccer fans stopped to watch the gunbattle instead of going to the game. Abdul Razak Al-Harithy said he saw security officers had blocked the roads leading to the area. “I was driving my car to drop a friend in the area but was surprised to see the road blocked and did not know the reason. At the same time I was hearing sounds of gunfire,” he said. Muhammad Bilal, a resident of the area, said he was able to return to his house only after things cooled down. “While I was returning from office, my family informed me about police action and movement of helicopters and sounds of gunfire,” he said. “I came back to my house cautiously.”
This is the second such incident in Jeddah in less than five months. Four suspects surrendered to police after a shootout between security forces and terrorists in the Jamiah District on Aug. 21.