Irbid brawl turns deadly, probe underway

AMMAN — Authorities on Saturday embarked on an investigation of a brawl that resulted in the death of one man in Irbid, official sources said.

The incident occurred between a group of people in the Kreimeh area, Police Spokesperson Lt. Col. Amer Sartawi said.

“Police immediately intervened and cordoned off the area after containing the brawl,” Sartawi told The Jordan Times.

Investigators seized several weapons and sent them to the Public Security Department’s (PSD) Forensic and Laboratories Department for ballistic analysis, the police official added.

“We are waiting for lab results, evidence and witnesses’ testimonies to pinpoint a perpetrator in the shooting incident,” Sartawi said.

The Criminal Court’s prosecution office was notified and is currently supervising the investigation, a senior judicial source said.

The prosecution office will also supervise the autopsy of the victim at the National Institute of Forensic Medicine, the senior judicial source told The Jordan Times.

The prosecution office will also summon relatives of the victim and individuals present during the brawl to learn more about the facts of the incident, according to the senior judicial source.

According to the PSD-affiliated Criminal Information Department (CID), police handled 106 homicide cases in the Kingdom in 2022, an increase of three from the previous year.

Meanwhile, there were 364 attempted murders, an increase of 74 cases compared with 290 in 2021.

Amman registered the highest number of homicides at 37, followed by the Northern Region with 28 murders, the CID report said.

There were 124 victims of homicides in 2022, including 14 foreign nationals, the CID report added.

In 2022, the Kingdom witnessed a crime every 23 minutes and 45 seconds, with 20 crimes committed per every 10,000 inhabitants. In 2021, 19 crimes were committee for every 10,000 inhabitants.