RIYADH: A gunman killed two staff at a private school in the Saudi Arabian capital on Wednesday, a security source told AFP.
"A teacher took a gun and then he went to the school room and he killed the assistant school principal and one of the employees," said the source who asked not to be identified because a formal statement would come later from Riyadh police.
Police are treating the case as a criminal matter and "not a terrorist incident," the source said.
According to his latest information the suspect, of Iraqi origin, was still being sought.
The shooting occurred at Kingdom School, which is part of a group owned by Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, chairman of Kingdom Holding Co whose diversified investments include Citigroup and Time Warner.
There were no students present at the time of the shooting, according to the United States embassy which issued an alert about the case.
Initially, the US mission said on its Twitter account. had said "There has been a shooting at Kingdom School in Riyadh,".
"School (is) closed, no children present. Please avoid area," the Twitter post had said, without elaborating on casualties or motives behind the shooting.
By late afternoon an AFP photographer observed only one police car entering the school grounds, which were quiet, and nobody answered the school's main phone line.
Most schools in Saudi Arabia are on holiday.
Sabq online newspaper, which is close to Saudi authorities, said police were seeking a suspect who fled the shooting which appeared to be the result of "previous disagreements".
Kingdom School is part of a group owned by Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, chairman of Kingdom Holding Co whose diversified investments include Citigroup and Time Warner.
The school, located in central Riyadh, opened in 2000 and offers boys' and girls' education from kindergarten to high school, according to its website.
The school has both a Saudi curriculum and an international programme leading to an American diploma.
Kingdom Holding says on its website that the schools group has more than 4,000 students and 300 teachers at various locations in Riyadh.