Father arrested for storming into school with loaded gun

Parent demanding to know who beat his son eventually surrenders

Habib Toumi

Police in Kuwait have arrested a man who stormed into a school with a loaded gun, demanding to know who had beaten his son.

The interior ministry emergency room was called and security officers from Al Jahra area, northwest of Kuwait City were dispatched to the school. “Following tense negotiations, the armed man surrendered and was taken to the public prosecution to face legal procedures,” sources said.

“Students and staff were scared and did not know what to do,” a security source said. “Nobody wanted to confront him as he was walking with the gun and demanding to know who beat his son,” the source told Kuwaiti daily Al Rai.

Social media users sought severe punishment for the man, arguing that he should have thought of the terrible consequences of his act.

“Who did he think he was to do all this?” a user, writing under the moniker of Take It Easy, said. “I am sure the son was hit by a teacher because he deserved it. However, I see that the father himself needs to be educated properly. He thought he was brave by holding a loaded gun and scaring young students. Let him now use all the time he will spend in jail to think over his senseless act,” he said.

Another blogger said the son should be taken away from his father.

“He simply cannot have the custody of a child if he allows himself to get angry, take a loaded gun and head to a school to settle scores,” he said. “I recommend the father be taken to a psychiatric hospital.”