Six-year-old killed in reported festive firing incident

AMMAN — A six-year-old boy was killed on Wednesday night in a "stray bullet" fired by a recent graduate in the northern governorate of Jerash, official source said Thursday.

The victim was standing in a different area when the 22-year-old suspect started firing live ammunition in the air to celebrate his graduation from a vocational college, said Maj. Wasfi Etoum, the acting spokesperson of the Public Security Department (PSD).

“The suspect then fired several rounds vertically and one bullet struck the six-year-old boy in the head,” the police official told The Jordan Times.

The boy was rushed to a nearby hospital but died almost 10 minutes after being admitted, the police official explained.

Etoum said the suspect was immediately arrested and the weapon allegedly used in the incident was also seized.

“We have sent the weapon to the crime lab for a ballistic match,” the police official added.

This incident comes almost a week after a two-year-old girl died in Salt of wounds she reportedly sustained in the head from a "stray bullet".

Salma Abu Saleem was playing outside her parents' house in Salt, some 35km northwest of Amman, when a stray bullet struck her in the head, according to a relative, who said that she was in a coma for two days before being pronounced dead on Sunday.

Etoum said, “measures by the PSD in recent years to curb festive firing have paid off despite the recent incidents.”

“These were two unfortunate incidents that have occurred following months of no reported incidents of festive firing because of our tough campaign,” the police official explained.

Last year, the PSD announced strict measures against those who take part in festive firing, which usually takes place to celebrate social events such as education results and weddings.

The department has pledged to conduct campaigns in various governorates and arrest any person who owns a gun without a licence and/or arrest people who fire weapons on any occasion, as well as individuals who sell weapons and ammunition for this purpose.

The PSD’s measures have also included locking up any groom whose wedding involves festive shooting.

In 2015, 35 people were arrested and 33 weapons were confiscated in festive firing cases, according to official figures released earlier this year.

The judiciary has introduced stiffer penalties over the years to curb festive shooting and started charging perpetrators with manslaughter and attempted murder under Article 326 of the Penal Code.

Convicted individuals could receive a maximum of 20 years in prison or life term in prison if the firing leads to more than one fatality, and the penalty could reach a 10-year imprisonment if the incident leads to an injury.

Furthermore, Grand Mufti of Jordan Abdul Karim Khasawneh said last year that festive shooting is forbidden in Islam for the fear and anxiety it causes and the danger it poses to people’s lives.

The Iftaa Department issued a religious edict in April 2015, urging people to abandon this religiously rejected practice because it disturbs public peace and harms others.