A 26-year-old schoolteacher was shot dead inside a private school in Lakhimpur Kheri on Monday morning by an armed man, 28, who had come to meet her.
The accused then shot himself dead with the same country-made pistol, police said.
He then accompanied her to the first floor, where he allegedly shot her with a country-made pistol in the corridor outside the senior-KG classroom before shooting himself. Multiple gunshots caused panic among school staff and children. As news of the incident spread, anxious parents gathered outside the school. ASP East Pavan Kumar Gautam, DSP Lakhimpur Vivek Tiwari and city Kotwali in-charge Rajesh Kumar Singh, along with police personnel, reached the school. SSP Garg and district magistrate Anjani Kumar Singh also reached the spot and conducted preliminary investigations. A forensic team was called to collect evidence. Police are examining how Saud entered the school carrying a firearm and reached the first floor.
The incident took place around 11:30 am at Children’s Academy School on Shahpura Kothi road, in close proximity to the Kheri head post office, while classes were underway. Kheri senior superintendent of police (SSP) Khyati Garg identified the deceased as Nishat Fatima, 26, a resident of Hidayatnagar, and the accused as Mohammad Saud Ansari, 28, of Naurangabad. Saud reached the school around 11:30 am to meet Fatima and met her on the ground floor, according to the SSP. Nursery and KG classes had ended around 11:30 am and parents had begun arriving to take their children home when the firing took place, according to school staff. The firing occurred in the first-floor corridor outside room No 11.
Fatima had been teaching at the school for about a year, Garg said. “Both died on the spot,” Garg said. CCTV footage and the school’s security arrangements will be reviewed, Garg said.
