Two American nationals were shot in Saudi Arabia's capital Riyadh on Tuesday, one of them fatally, prompting officials to immediately issue a "security message" to U.S. citizens in the country for any safety precautions they should take, the U.S. State Department stated. The second victim was reported to be "lightly" injured.
The two unidentified victims, employees of a U.S. defense contractor supporting Saudi National Guard military programs, were targeted at a gas station-store near the King Fahd stadium, in the east of the Saudi capital, State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said.
"We can confirm that two U.S. citizen employees from Vinnell Arabia, a U.S. defense 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 in a statement Tuesday afternoon, according to ABC News.
"The attack resulted in the killing of one person and wounding [of] another and it turned out they were of American citizenship," according to a police statement carried by state media.
Immediately after the attack, the suspect, identified as Abdulaziz Fahad Abdulaziz Alrashid, was cornered when police gunfire injured him, a Saudi Interior Ministry source told Fox News, citing accounts from witnesses.
Alrashid, a 24-year-old American-born Saudi who worked at the same company as the victims, had recently been fired over drug-related issues, the Saudi Embassy in Washington D.C. told Fox News.
"We are in close contact with the Saudi government as we continue to gather details about the shooting and motive," she said. "We are in the process of evaluating our security posture and will take appropriate steps to ensure the safety of all U.S. Mission personnel."
Meanwhile, other American nationals were alerted with a "security message," which is used to "communicate information about personal security threats of a general or systemic nature, such as crime trends, demonstrations, peaceful actions intended to disrupt normal activity, or localized events not likely to affect large numbers of U.S. citizens," the State Department stated.
"Such messages are regularly issued by embassies and consulates abroad to provide timely and important safety and security information to U.S. citizens living or traveling in their districts."
"Our Embassy is issuing a security message to U.S. citizens to advise them on the situation and any safety precautions they should take," Psaki said.
According to its LinkedIn page, Vinnell Arabia is "the market leader in U.S. military doctrine-based training, logistics, and support services inside Saudi Arabia. We provide unparalleled training and simulation services for defense, national security as well as fire and emergency medical response."
The last major terrorist attack when Westerners were killed in Saudi Arabia was in 2007, with three French nationals being fatally shot while camping in Madain Saleh, in the northwest of the country, Reuters reported.
