American shot dead and another wounded, in attack at petrol station in Saudi Arabia
Police have said the incident happened in the eastern district of Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.An American employee of a US defence contractor has been shot dead and another wounded in an attack in Saudi Arabia, security officials have said.
The attack happened when the two US nationals stopped at a petrol station in an eastern district of the kingdon's capital Riyadh, police said.
Saudi security forces later shot and wounded an alleged assailant before arresting him, the official Saudi Press Agency quoted a Riyadh police spokesman as saying
A brief statement, carried by state media, said: "The attack resulted in the killing of one person and wounding another and it turned out they were of American citizenship."
The SPA reported that the American wounded in the attack was left with "moderate" injuries.
Interior Ministry spokesman Major General Mansour Turki told Reuters the motive behind the attack was not yet known.
He said the alleged assailant was a Saudi national who was born in the US. A third US national in a separate vehicle witnessed the attack, he added.
The two Americans were employees of Vinnell Arabia, a US defense contractor supporting Saudi National Guard military programmes in Riyadh.
They were shot about roughly half-a-mile from its facility in the city, a State Department official said.
The site is also near the Saudi National Guard headquarters.
US officials have been in close contact with the Saudi government as they gathered details about the shooting and a possible motive, the official told the Associated Press.
US authorities were also evaluating security and will take steps to ensure the safety of all US Mission personnel, the official said.
The last reported killings of Westerners by armed assailants in Saudi Arabia occurred in 2007 when three French nationals were shot dead while camping in the northwest of the country.
Additional reporting by Reuters and Associated Press
Subscribe to Independent Premium to bookmark this article
Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? Start your Independent Premium subscription today.