4-U.S. national shot dead in Saudi capital Riyadh

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A gunman killed a U.S. national and wounded another in the Saudi capital of Riyadh on Tuesday, officials said, heightening Western concerns over security in the world's top oil exporter as regional unrest rises.

Police later shot and wounded an assailant and then arrested him, said a statement from the police, carried by state media. The apprehended man worked at the same company as the two victims and had recently been dismissed from his job, Saudi Arabia's embassy in Washington said in a statement.

"The attack resulted in the killing of one person and wounding another and it turned out they were of American citizenship," the police statement said.

Interior Ministry spokesman Major General Mansour Turki said an investigation was under way into what appeared to be the first killing in years of a Westerner in Saudi Arabia.

The Saudi Embassy statement identified the man arrested by police as Abdulaziz Fahad Abdulaziz Alrashid, and said he was a dual Saudi-American citizen who was born in Washington state in July 1990.

"Alrashid worked at the same company as the victims, and was recently dismissed from his job due to drug-related issues," the statement said.

Alrashid's family could not immediately be reached for comment.

The Americans worked for Vinnell Arabia, a local affiliate of U.S. defence company Northrop Grumman Corporation which provides training and support services to the Saudi Arabian National Guard, said U.S. State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki.

"We can confirm that two U.S. citizen employees from Vinnell Arabia, a U.S. defence contractor supporting Saudi National Guard military programs in Riyadh, were shot at a local gas station/store approximately 0.5 miles from the Vinnell Arabia base in Riyadh, which is located approximately 20 miles from the U.S. Embassy," Psaki said.

Last Edited by The AlSayr on 10/14/2014 05:29 PM