Shooting
During evening prayers, at about 9:00 p.m., 33-year-old Abbas al-Baqir Abbas, using a Kalashnikov assault rifle, began shooting through a window at the people in the al-Sunna al-Mohammediyya Mosque in Jarafa, instantly killing 20 worshipers. According to witnesses, he avoided the women's section of the mosque and reassured a fleeing woman that he would only shoot males. When he refused to surrender to responding police units, Abbas was killed after a brief shootout with officers. 33 were wounded in the attack, among them a police officer. At least two of the injured later died of their wounds.
Although Abbas acted alone, according to police, witnesses stated that shots were fired from three directions and that there had been at least three attackers dressed in jellabiyas, all but one fleeing before police arrived. There were also reports that not only worshipers at the mosque were attacked, but that the gunman had rampaged through the village, killing at least two boys. Various higher death tolls were reported, ranging from 23 and 24 to 27 people killed and 49 wounded.
Read more about this topic: 2000 Jarafa Mosque Massacre
Famous quotes containing the word shooting:
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