JEDDAH – The Administrative Court in Jeddah began looking into charges of abuse of power leveled against a security officer that led to the death of one person. The Control and Investigation Board (CIB) referred the case to the court. The Administrative Court questioned the security officer, who was stationed at one of the checkpoints on the coastal road, on his action. The case accuses the security officer of using excessive force in trying to stop an errant vehicle, which had stormed past an earlier checkpoint and then refused to heed his order to stop at the checkpoint he was manning. The incident occurred at 3.00 a.m., the security officer said, when he received information about the vehicle, with tinted glass, that had stormed past a checkpoint and hit a security officer. The vehicle driver did not heed the warning shots fired and headed to the area where the security officer was stationed. The defendant said he had received instructions to set up another checkpoint to stop the suspect and the vehicle. But despite seeing the blockade, the driver made a U-turn and started driving in the opposite direction, against the flow of traffic. The defendant further said that when he saw the suspect ignoring the warning shots and continuing to drive in the opposite direction — putting the lives of other motorists in danger — he fired at the vehicle. The defendant said that he resorted to shooting because he had received information that the driver had five criminal priors, one of them was for arms smuggling, which meant that he was dangerous. The shots hit the passenger by mistake killing him on the spot. At this point, the judge told the defendant that he should only use his gun if he is being shot at but never initiate the firing. The defendant told the judge that he did not intend to kill the driver as much as he wanted to make him stop. The judge asked him if he could prove what he said. The defendant said he called the operations room before deciding to shoot at the driver, who kept zigzagging with his car causing the passenger to be hit by the shot that was meant to hit the vehicle, and not the two persons inside. The Prosecutor General insisted on accusing the defendant of using excessive power while the latter told the court that he would present evidence that allows use of gun by law to stop a person who poses a threat to the public.
