QATIF, 10 April 2008 — The funeral of a 28-year-old man who died after accidentally being shot when revelers began firing guns into the air at a wedding in the Qatif region turned into a social cause with mourners carrying placards against guns.
Mourners at Hussein Al-Shouiky’s funeral in Al-Qadih carried photographs of the dead youth and placards saying “Stop Using Weapons” and “Stop the Insanity of Weapons,” Al-Watan newspaper reported yesterday.
Following Al-Shouiky’s death, people in his village formed a group to tackle the problem of people using weapons and joyriding — two major killers of young people in the area.
Around 120 young men have volunteered to work for the group, which has been assigned to report incidents of joyriding and people using guns to the police.
Al-Shouiky was killed when a bullet, fired by Riyad Eid Al-Banay during a customary expression of happiness, went through his back and penetrated his kidney. The 28-year-old was taken to hospital where he later died.
