US teacher killed in Iraq school argument
Source: Agencies |
March 2, 2012, Friday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
AN American gym teacher was shot and killed yesterday in an apparent murder-suicide after an argument with a student in a private school in northern Iraq, officials said.
The quarrel broke out yesterday morning at the Medes School in Sulaimaniyah between the gym teacher and the student, identified as 18-year old Biyar Sarwar, said police spokesman Sarkawit Mohammed. During the argument, Mohammed said, Sarwar shot the teacher with a gun hidden in his clothes.
Mohammed said Sarwar then shot himself and died later at a nearby hospital. Sulaimaniyah health director Retawit Hama Rashid confirmed Sarwar's death.
Eyewitnesses described a scene of chaos in the classroom, with several students fainting out of fear.
The gym teacher's name has not disclosed pending notification of next of kin.
Sulaimaniyah is located in Iraq's comparatively peaceful Kurdish region, 260 kilometers northeast of Baghdad.
The attack came at the Media School, a private, Christian, English-based academy that covers elementary through secondary grade levels.
It runs schools in the three provinces that make up Iraq's northern Kurdish region with a total enrollment of about 2,000 students.
According to the school's website, American staff often help teach one or two courses each semester.
An estimated 95 percent of students come from Kurdish Muslim families, and the rest are described as either Orthodox or evangelical Christians or from other backgrounds.
The US embassy in Baghdad has not yet confirmed the death.
The quarrel broke out yesterday morning at the Medes School in Sulaimaniyah between the gym teacher and the student, identified as 18-year old Biyar Sarwar, said police spokesman Sarkawit Mohammed. During the argument, Mohammed said, Sarwar shot the teacher with a gun hidden in his clothes.
Mohammed said Sarwar then shot himself and died later at a nearby hospital. Sulaimaniyah health director Retawit Hama Rashid confirmed Sarwar's death.
Eyewitnesses described a scene of chaos in the classroom, with several students fainting out of fear.
The gym teacher's name has not disclosed pending notification of next of kin.
Sulaimaniyah is located in Iraq's comparatively peaceful Kurdish region, 260 kilometers northeast of Baghdad.
The attack came at the Media School, a private, Christian, English-based academy that covers elementary through secondary grade levels.
It runs schools in the three provinces that make up Iraq's northern Kurdish region with a total enrollment of about 2,000 students.
According to the school's website, American staff often help teach one or two courses each semester.
An estimated 95 percent of students come from Kurdish Muslim families, and the rest are described as either Orthodox or evangelical Christians or from other backgrounds.
The US embassy in Baghdad has not yet confirmed the death.
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