Egypt’s interior ministry announced on Thursday evening the arrest of a man supsected of the killing of one priest and injuring another in a northeastern suburb of Cairo earlier that day.
According to a statement released by the ministry, security forces arrested Ahmed El-Sonbaty as a suspect in the murder of Coptic Orthodox priest Samaan Shehata and the assault upon another, Beyman Moftan.
The late Shehata served as archpriest at St. Julius Church in El-Fashn, Beni Suef. Injured priest Beymen Moftan administers the El-Malak church in Matay, Minya.
The statement added that the suspect attacked both Shehata and Moftan in El-Salam city, where the suspect used to live, and that authorities were able to locate the weapon he allegedly used to attack both men.
Though no motive has yet been revealed, the interior ministry stated that 40-year-old El-Sonbaty is unemployed and was charged earlier this year for assaulting his father and setting his house on fire.
The prosecution is currently investigating the incident.