On Saturday night in the Mar Mikhael neighborhood of Beirut, a shooting took place where an eyewitness said she saw a victim with wounds to the mouth.
According to the witness, the victim managed to escape alive and drive away in a yellow Toyota FJ Cruiser despite apparently being shot in the face. “His shirt [had] blood all over,” she said.
The doctor who treated the victim, Dr. Kassem Farhat, said that he is in stable condition but needs oral and maxillofacial surgery. Dr. Farhat was not immediately available for further comment.
A security source informed The961, on the condition of anonymity, that the shooter had been drinking at the time and has since been arrested. The source added that the shooting happened over a personal dispute – leaving the victim with non-life-threatening injuries to the mouth and head.
The source was not able to identify exactly where the shooting took place, only that it happened in or near one of the bars in Mar Mikhael.
The bar where the shooting allegedly took place, Bar 35, told The961 that the only information they knew was that it was close to their bar. Similar actions taken by other bars there.
According to Mar Mikhael resident Father Bassam Bou Raad Geagea, fights like this take place often in the area but that the authorities “hardly venture out of their building or make patrols.”