By Teresa Lynn Hasan-Kerr
Rabat – On May 9, nearly a week into Ramadan, the holy month for Muslims worldwide, a gunshot caught the attention of those praying at Seven Kings Mosque in London.
A masked man with a gun entered the mosque that evening. Upon his arrival, he was escorted out of the mosque. Shortly after, the congregation heard the shot. There are no fatalities or injuries from the incident.
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Though the gun had only shot blanks, at the time the London police were called. “At this early stage, ballistic evidence recovered from the scene suggests that the weapon was a blank-firing handgun,” the Met said.
There have been no arrests, although the police continue to investigate the situation.
When those inside the mosque heard the gunshot, they thought it was an ordinary noise. Ibraheem Hussein, who was among those praying inside the mosque, said he initially thought the noise was that of something heavy being dropped.
“It sounded like a firework or maybe something heavy had been dropped, so no-one really thought anything of it,” Hussein said.
Muslim Council Spokesman Miqdaad Versi discourages circulating misinformation. The request that only verified facts about the shooting be repeated is likely due to there being no confirmed motives, despite the witnesses detailing the masked man’s “suspicious” behavior.
In the aftermath of recent shootings taking place at various worship sites worldwide, concerned believers of each faith might be quick to link these events to terrorism. However, Muslim Council Spokesman Miqdaad Versi tweeted in a thread that a potential cause behind the shooting could be a personal brawl.
