The police on Monday shot and killed a prison inmate, who had escaped while on a hospital visit from a Dammam prison, in a desert area 25 km east of Hafr Al-Batin, said Interior Ministry spokesman Gen. Mansour Al-Turki.

Abdullah Al-Sahli, imprisoned for murder and several armed robberies, had escaped on Jan. 26 with the help of four armed Saudi suspects, who had opened fire on police.

The policeman, who accompanied Al-Sahli on his pre-arranged visit to the physical therapy clinic, was hit in the thigh and leg, said Abdullah Nasser Al-Harbi, spokesman for the General Directorate of Prisons.

The inmate and his accomplices then escaped in a black Caprice.

The command and control center of the Eastern Province police issued a circular with details of the fugitives and the car they escaped in.

The security forces formed a search and investigation squad and located their hideout near a SASCO station in the area.

Al-Sahli tried to flee in the car with a fellow fugitive but security officers opened fire at the car’s wheels, forcing them to stop.

The suspects refused to surrender and started shooting at the officers. The officers returned fire killing Al-Sahli and injuring his accomplice.

The injured suspect was hospitalized but was arrested with the other three suspects, who had remained at their hideout during the car chase. The police seized two automatic rifles and three pistols.

Al-Harbi said the inmate had allegedly fired shots into the crowd of spectators at a drifting event, killing a 30-year-old man. He had also crashed his car into the vehicle of a fellow drifter at the event.