JEDDAH — Security officers shot down a gun-toting motorist who went berserk in Jeddah's Rehab district early Thursday after the man posed a serious threat to public life. The man started driving recklessly and at great speed creating panic in the area, police said.
When the security officers surrounded the man in their attempt to prevent him from harming pedestrians and passing cars, he got out of his car toting a Kalashnikov submachine gun. The man was completely naked.
He threatened to shoot the security men who were trying to pacify him. As he tried to escape, he damaged several patrol cars by deliberately crashing into them.
Police were handling the situation with great skill and professionalism. They decided to push the man out of the crowded streets away to the eastern side of the Expressway. But when he reached the vicinity of a gas station close to Rehab district, the man aimed his gun at gas pumps with the intention of triggering an explosion, forcing police to open fire to liquidate the threat.
The man was seriously wounded in the ensuing confrontation and was taken to hospital, where he died later.
According to Okaz newspaper, the gunman was in his 30s and had a previous criminal record. Police found a piece of paper with a note saying “I want to die” in his possession. When he was overpowered, he mumbled a few incomprehensible words, the sources said. – SG/Okaz
