One Coptic Christian was killed and five others wounded in a shooting on board Cairo-Assiut train No. 979 on Tuesday evening as it entered Minya's Samalut station en route to Cairo, when a policeman named Amer Abu Ashour opened fire on passengers with an automatic weapon.
The shooting resulted in the death of Fathi Mosaad Eid Ghattas, 71, from Cairo's al-Zeitoun district. Those wounded in the shooting were Marianne Nabil Zaki, 25, who was injured in her left arm; her sister, Maggie, 27, who was also injured in her left arm; Ihab Ashraf Kamal, 21, injured in his left shoulder; Sabah Senioure, 21; and Emile Hanna Tekle, 61.
All of the victims were Coptic Christians.
According to judicial sources, the shooter has been arrested and detained at the Samalut police station where he is currently under interrogation.
A Samalut Train Station official said the incident occurred at 5:35 PM.
Mariam Salah, director of Samalut's Good Shepherd Hospital, said hospital officials had admitted five people suffering injuries.
Scores of angry Coptic Christians gathered outside the hospital, but local Coptic clergymen urged them to disperse until results of the investigation were released.
Security sources said that police had also arrested the shooter’s brother, who is also a policeman at the Samalut Police Station.
