During evening prayers, at about 9:00 p.m., 33-year-old Abbas al-Baqir Abbas, using a Kalashnikov assault rifle, began shooting through a window at the people in the al-Sunna al-Mohammediyya Mosque in Jarafa, instantly killing 20 worshipers. According to witnesses, he avoided the women's section of the mosque and reassured a fleeing woman that he would only shoot males. When he refused to surrender to responding police units, Abbas was killed after a brief shootout with officers.