A Coptic 28-year-old engineer who worked as a teacher, Rani Ra’fat, was shot to death by a masked armed men in the town of al-Dabaa in Marsa Matrouh some 320km west of Alexandria. The men then set his car on fire.
Mr Ra’fat worked at a school in Dabaa, and owned a shop on the ground floor of his house. The day he was shot he received a phone call following which he opened his shop. A Hyundai Verna private car stopped by; some two or three masked men inside opened fire on him, firing some 22 shots that left him dead on the spot.
Matrouh police directly arrived at the scene of the crime. The victim was moved to al-Alamein hospital, then to the morgue of Kom El-Dikka in Alexandria.
The masked men fled to al-Dabaa regional road, then set fire on the car they used in the crime.
A rumor went around on social media claiming that Mr Ra’afat was killed because of having “relationship(s) with Muslim girl(s)” on Facebook..
A funeral service was held on 29 April at the church of Holy Virgin in Muharram Bey, Alexandria, and his body buried in the family tomb.
Official investigations are ongoing.
On the other hand, Michael Magdy Saeed, a 25-year-old Copt from the village of Shutb in Assiut some 350km south of Cairo, was shot in the chest and directly moved immediately to hospital where he was placed under intensive care.
An eyewitness said that a villager whose initials are R.E and who is said to have a criminal record intentionally made up an unreasonable dispute with Mr Saeed, took out a gun and shot him in the chest.
The police arrested the offender, and is conducting investigations into the incident and questioning witnesses.
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