Sana'a school shooting
| Sana'a school shooting | |
|---|---|
 Mohammad Ahman al-Nazari during his trial | |
| Location | Sana'a, Yemen |
| Date | March 30, 1997 |
Attack type | School shooting, mass murder |
| Weapons | Kalashnikov assault rifle |
| Deaths | 6 |
Non-fatal injuries | 12 |
| Perpetrator | Mohammad Ahman al-Nazari |
| Motive | Alleged rape of daughter |
The Sana'a school shooting was a school shooting where 6 people were killed by Mohammad Ahman al-Nazari in Sana'a, Yemen on March 30, 1997. Nazari was convicted for the killings and sentenced to death, and was executed in a week later.
Background
Mohammad Ahman al-Nazari was a 48-year-old resident of Sana'a, Yemen, and a veteran of the Soviet-Afghan War, where he had fought in the Mujahideen against the Soviet Union during their invasion of Afghanistan. Nazari's five children attended the Tala'i Private School in the Asbahi neighborhood of Sana'a, where it was alleged that one of his daughters had been molested by the school administrator, despite there being no evidence found to confirm this.[1] Nazari had also previously been employed as a bus driver for Tala'i Private School and the nearby Musa Bin Nusayr School, but was fired for unknown reasons some time before the shooting.
Shooting
Armed with an illegally obtained Kalashnikov assault rifle, Nazari waited at the school for the headmistress and killed her by shooting her in the head. After killing a cafeteria worker and injuring a bus driver who came to help, Nazari entered the school building and walked from classroom to classroom, shooting indiscriminately at teachers and students. Subsequently, he went to nearby Musa Bin Nusayr School, where he continued his shooting rampage.
Arrest and conviction
Nazari killed a total of six people and wounded 12 others before he was eventually injured and arrested by police.[2][3] After officially being declared sane, Nazari (whose name was also reported as being Hassan Ali al-Baadani or Muhammad Ahmad al-Naziri) was taken to trial where he was found guilty for the six murders, and sentenced to death the next day. Nazari's daughters had fought against the courts to appeal their father's execution but lost.
Execution
On April 5, 1997, Nazari was executed by firing squad with five shots in the chest, in an empty lot located between the two schools where he had committed the shootings.[1][2] After his execution, the initial sentence for Nazari's corpse to be crucified in a public area for three days was repealed, instead the corpse was kicked to a pulp by angry citizens and burned in the streets of Sana'a. .[4][5][6]
The daughter who was allegedly raped by the school administrator committed suicide five years later, while Nazari's other four children reportedly all died in a train accident in 2006.
Victims
- Asma Abd al-Bari, headmistress of Tala'i school
- Muhammad Yahya al-Ulufi, teacher at Tala'i school
- Husayn Ali Qa'id al-Ba'dani
- Ali Muhammad Muqbil al-Awadi
- Imad Muhammad al-Raymi
- Unidentified student
External links
- Gunman kills eight at two schools in Yemen, CNN (March 30, 1997)
- Yemen - Gunman goes on shooting spree in schools, Associated Press (March 31, 1997) (Video)
- Yemen - Trial of gunman, Associated Press (April 2, 1997) (Video)
References
- 1 2 San'a school gunman reportedly schizophrenic (March 30, 1997)
- 1 2 Yemeni father's school slaughter, The Independent (March 31, 1997)
- ↑ Man accused of killing 6 people is sentenced to death, Associated Press (April 1, 1997)
- ↑ Court sentences San'a school gunman to death (March 31, 1997)
- ↑ Yemen Executes Killer of Six, The Washington Post (April 6, 1997)
- ↑ Around The World, The Seattle Times (April 2, 1997)