Panic spread on the Mohandessin street of Al-Batal Ahmed Abdel Aziz after reports of gunshots on Wednesday.
The shots reportedly came from the rooftop of a building in Al-Batal street, injuring an employee at the National Societe Generale Bank (NSGB). The employee received a birdshot in his arm, Ministry of Interior spokesman Hany Abdel Latif said. He denied that security forces were on a mission to arrest a leading Muslim Brotherhood figure from Al-Batal street at the time of shooting.
Abdel Latif stated that security forces arrested one suspect who is still being investigated for his possible involvement in the shooting: a young man, Mohamed Anwar Masoud.
“It’s not yet confirmed that Masoud was involved in the shooting,” Abdel Latif said. “He wasn’t arrested while in possession of any weapons. We have formed a criminal research team to further look into the matter.”
Meanwhile, Tamarod, the grassroots campaign which led the calls for the ouster of former President Mohamed Morsi, posted a statement on its official Facebook page on Wednesday claiming that Masoud is “a revolutionary” and denying that he is “a Muslim Brotherhood member or a terrorist”.
“Masoud was only present at Al-Batal street by coincidence,” the statement read, adding that Masoud had participated in the campaign in collecting signatures from citizens withdrawing their confidence in Morsi as president.
Tamarod called on Minister of Interior Mohamed Ibrahim to intervene. “It’s not acceptable to arrest any innocent citizen because he happened to be present at the setting of the incident,” the statement read.
Al-Batal street witnessed deadly clashes between Morsi supporters and security forces on 14 August, following the forcible dispersal of the pro-Morsi Al-Nahda sit-in in Giza. The clashes left 39 civilians killed, according to an independent count conducted by the Egyptian Centre for Economic and Social Rights (ECESR).
