MAKKAH: The suspected murderer of Fais Al-Shanbari, a teacher at the Abu Zaid Al-Ansari School in Al-Zahir neighborhood in Makkah, reportedly had a history of mental illness. Al-Shanbari had treated the alleged killer on an earlier occasion when the man complained that an evil spirit was haunting him, Al-Madinah reported quoting a source yesterday. According to sources, the two men had had a dispute for six years and the teacher was murdered in cold blood at the school.
Minister of Education Prince Faisal bin Abdullah bin Muhammad expressed his sorrow at the death of Al-Shanbari on Monday. The prince’s condolences were conveyed to Khamis Al-Shanbari, father of the teacher and the bereaved family by Deputy Minister of Education Faisal bin Abdul Rahman Al-Muammar.
Al-Shanbari, was an imam at a mosque in Makkah and used to preach in a local jail on Wednesdays.
Director general of Education Department in Makkah, Bakr Basfar, said the murdered teacher was known for his good character and kindly behavior toward students and for his charitable works for the poor. According to Al-Madinah, the killer was sitting with a gun in his hand, mumbling unintelligibly. Police are continuing their investigation; the motive for the killing is not clear.
A teacher enumerated the events of the day. The killer came to the school asking for Al-Shanbari around 10 a.m. while he was performing the Dhuhr prayer in the school mosque. Al-Shanbari was fasting that day and after he came out of the mosque, the man greeted him and then shot him at close range. The killer then went to the school secretary’s office until the police came for him.
A student, Yousuf Khayyat, had a slightly different story however. “The killer greeted our Islamic education teacher (the victim) warmly when he came out of the school mosque and requested to talk to him for a few seconds.
“Then we heard the sound of gun shots and one of them pierced his chest and he fell.”
The victim’s eldest son, Anas Al-Shanbari, a student in the school where the murder was committed, said he heard the sound of gunshots while he was in the class.
“I never thought that my father was being murdered. Then I saw some students avoiding me and whispering. When I went to the place of the shooting I saw my father lying in a pool of blood. I accompanied him to hospital. Shortly after our arrival there, he died.”
