Suspect arrested in Zarqa after man shot dead in row over sheep

AMMAN — Police on Tuesday said they arrested a man who reportedly shot and killed his relative over an argument earlier in the day in Zarqa, official sources said.

The 41-year-old man was reportedly shot dead by his relative following an argument, and the suspect fled the area, Public Security Department Spokesperson Lt. Col. Amer Sartawi said.

“The suspect was in custody within two hours of the incident, and investigators are still searching for the weapon,” Sartawi told The Jordan Times.

The victim was rushed to a nearby hospital, but was declared dead on arrival, a senior medical source said.

A second source told The Jordan Times that the problem started a few days before and involved sheep that entered the suspect’s courtyard and were grazing there.

“The suspect thought that the victim intentionally allowed the sheep in… and engaged in a heated argument a few days before the shooting,” the second source said.

On Tuesday, the second source said, “The argument over the matter was renewed between the two and ended with the death of the victim.”

A government autopsy conducted at the Zarqa National Institute of Forensic Medicine by pathologists Ibrahim Obeidat, Mohammad Momani and Mohammad Erteimat indicated that the victim died of a single bullet wound to the stomach, the medical source said.

“The bullet penetrated the victim’s stomach and exited from the back, causing internal bleeding,” the medical source told The Jordan Times.

Sartawi said police are still investigating the incident.