The view from Pakistan on the shooting incident

Dawn, the English language Pakistani news portal, has a little bit different take on the incident – as you might imagine.

The two young guys with guns? “Commuters,” says Dawn. Later in the article they acknowledge they were armed, but then there is this eyewitness report:

Mohammad Ramzan, a salesman at a shop on Jail Road, told Dawn that he saw a foreigner leaving his Honda car in a hurry and with a pistol in his hand. “Within seconds he trained his gun at two motorcyclists standing at the Qurtaba Chowk traffic signal and opened fire,” he said.

Both the youngsters suffered multiple injuries and fell on the road. The foreigner immediately drove away his car towards Mozang Chowk.

One of the motorcyclists died on the spot while the other in Services Hospital. SP Umar Saeed said the motorcyclists were also carrying pistols at that time. He denied reports about the cross-fire and said police also recovered two pistols from the place. The other motorcyclist, who was run over by the colleagues of David, was identified as Ibadur Rehman, of Gulshan-i-Ravi. He ran a cosmetics shop at Auriga Complex in Gulberg.

The bystander killed by the second embassy car was also riding a motorcycle.

And from the “Getting Curiouser and Curiouser” department, there is this little nugget about the diplomat, Raymond David:

A senior police officer told Dawn that Raymond David was among four people who were detained by security personnel near Lahores Sherpao Bridge on Dec 9, 2009, when they were trying to enter the Cantonment area in a vehicle with tinted glasses. They were armed with sophisticated weapons. The intervention of the US consulate led to their release, the officer recalled.

The article also mentions that David served in Afghanistan. In what capacity?

A senior police officer said Mr David, a technical officer of the US consulate in Lahore, had spent two years in Afghanistan and was well-trained to combat any critical situation.

As soon as one of the motorcyclists drew pistol, he acted within seconds, targeting him with four shots. He then fired three shots at his companion.

Of the seven shots, the police officer added, he missed only one as police found six shells he fired form his pistol.

This fellow David would seem to be very handy in a fight. Cool as a cucumber, he took his attackers down with only one miss.

The truth of all of the above depends on the idea that you believe everything you read in Dawn. I don’t. You shouldn’t. But there are some interesting conclusions one might draw regarding the employment of Mr. David. Perhaps the article is written to suggest some kind of intel connection, but gleaning the facts from rumor, innuendo, falsehoods, and outright propaganda is too difficult to make an intelligent assessment at this point.

UPDATE: State Department React

Also in Dawn is the reaction of the State Department, who are referring to David as a “civilian employee.” Whether he has diplomatic immunity is still being sorted out.