The security authorities announced on Friday the arrest of a man suspected of shooting 13-year-old Youssef Sameh el-Araby. Araby has been in a coma since Thursday, after being struck down by a silent gunshot in Cairo’s 6 of October City.
The arrested man is also suspected of injuring another woman in Al-Hosary Square in 6 October City on May 18.
According to investigations, the suspect is from Fayoum governorate and came to the city to celebrate the engagement of his sister. During the celebration, the suspect was shooting in the air, outside the hall, near Hosary Square, using an automatic rifle, which led to the injury of another person. The university student called Doaa Ahmed received a shot in her back, whereas Araby received a bullet in his head.
The forensic reports of the two victims stated that Ahmed was wounded with a shrapnel in her back, while Araby, who was wounded half an hour after Ahmed’s injury, was injured in his head and lies in a critical condition in hospital.
Youssef was spending the night with his school friends in Al-Ashgar neighborhood. As they were standing around at one of the local restaurants in the area to order some food, Youssef collapsed, from what was soon discovered to be a bullet wound to the head, Sameh el-Araby, Youssef’s father told Al-Masry Al-Youm on Saturday.
“The bullet settled in the brain stem,” Sameh said, explaining that the doctors say the bullet cannot be surgically removed and that Youssef’s condition is critical and close to a “clinical death”.
Youssef is currently in a critical condition in the intensive care unit at the 6 of October University Hospital.
Political activist Marwa Kenawy, Youssef’s mother, received a call later on Thursday from her son’s friends informing her that Youssef had fainted and hit his head so they had taken him to the hospital.
However, after he was examined at the hospital, it was clear that a bullet was lodged in Youssef’s head.
“Bystanders in the area thought that Youssef had collapsed due to being malnourished, assuming the head wound was caused when he hit the ground, as no one heard the actual gunshot,” Youssef’s father explained.
Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
