A five-month-old Moroccan child was killed near a shopping mall in Khamis Mushayt when a stray bullet descended vertically from the sky, lodging straight into her forehead.
The incident, considered the first of its kind in the area, has shocked the public.Saeed, the victim's father, said that he walks daily in the area, along with his wife and her sister, since they live nearby.
"My wife, her pregnant sister, myself and my baby were at a travel agent buying tickets to Morocco since my parents had not seen the baby since she was born," said Saeed.
"My wife and sister-in-law were waiting for me outside when I heard the sound of a nearby shot. My wife had found Tufaha covered in blood. A young Saudi man had helped transfer my baby to the Al-Hayat National Hospital Asir, while I was still inside the office, oblivious to what had happened."
Saeed was surprised to hear his wife screaming and shouting on the mobile phone when she called him.
"I thought my wife's sister was in labor. I quickly went to the hospital, only to find my wife standing in front of the hospital's intensive care unit crying.
"Policemen told me later that a stray bullet that had come from within 1 square kilometer had settled in my child's forehead," he said.
"The bullet destroyed her skull, but Tufaha did not die immediately. She was on life support for 24 hours."
He said security men, detectives and forensic experts came rushing to the hospital for further investigation.
"I was prevented by security guards from entering my daughter's room when I went to visit the next day, but I entered by force, only to find that life support had been removed from Tufaha's body. I knew then that my child had died."
Saeed appealed to security agents to find and arrest whoever was responsible for his daughter's death.
"The police have instructed nearby mosques to announce that anyone who fired gunshots must come forward and contact the police," he said.
DANG!
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