American teacher dies in north Iraq shooting

[March 01, 2012]  SULAIMANIYAH, Iraq (AP) -- An American gym teacher was shot and killed Thursday in an apparent murder-suicide after an argument with a student in a private school in northern Iraq, officials said.

The quarrel broke out Thursday morning at the Medya School in Sulaimaniyah between the gym teacher and the student, identified as 18-year old Biyar Sarwar, said city police spokesman Sarkawit Mohammed. During the argument, Mohammed said, Sarwar shot the teacher with a gun he had hidden in his clothes.

Mohammed said Sarwar then shot himself, and died of the wounds later at a nearby hospital. Sulaimaniyah health director Retawit Hama Rashid confirmed Sarwar's death.

Eyewitnesses described a scene of chaos in the classroom, with several students fainting out of fear.

Sulaimaniyah mayor Zana Hama Saleh confirmed the police account but declined to speculate on Sarwar's motive.

The Associated Press is withholding the gym teacher's name pending notification of next of kin.

Sulaimaniyah is located in Iraq's comparatively peaceful Kurdish region, 160 miles (260 kilometers) northeast of Baghdad.

The attack came at the Media School, a private, Christian, English-based academy that covers elementary through secondary grade levels. It runs schools in the three provinces that make up Iraq's northern Kurdish region with a total enrollment of about 2,000 students.

According to the school's website, American staff often help teach one or two courses each semester. An estimated 95 percent of the students come from Kurdish Muslim families, and the rest are described as either Orthodox or evangelical Christians or from other backgrounds.

Many students are the children of local government officials and community leaders.

The U.S. Embassy in Baghdad has not yet confirmed the death.

"We have heard reports regarding the shooting of a teacher in Sulaimaniyah and are working through our consulate in Irbil and Iraqi authorities to ascertain the details of the incident," the Embassy said in a statement. "At this time, we are waiting for identification to be completed and for the family to be notified."

[Associated Press; By YAHYA BARZANJI]

Associated Press writers Sameer N. Yacoub, Sinan Salaheddin and Lara Jakes in Baghdad contributed to this report.

Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.