Saudi Arabia police arrested on Monday a Yemeni national who stabbed three theatre performers during a live play in a park in the capital Riyadh, according to official news agency SPA.
The spokesperson of Riyadh police said that the suspect stabbed two men and a woman while on stage in the King Abdullah park before he was stopped by police.
The suspect is a resident in Saudi Arabia and is 33 years old, the spokesperson added, without providing the assailant’s motivation behind the attack.
The wounded are in stable condition, and their injuries are “superficial” according to the police.
The state television Al Ekhbariya shared footages of the attack on Twitter showing the suspect attacking the performers on stage before being chased away.
King Abdullah Park in the centre of Riyadh and is one of several venues that host a two-month entertainment festival in the capital.
The stabbing was the first of its kind in Saudi Arabia since Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman took unprecedented reforms including promoting musical and theatre performances, seeking to diversify the economy. Such events were banned, and women were not allowed to show or perform in those performances.
The reforms also included lifting the ban on women driving.
Over the past two years, the kingdom hosted Arab and international singers including Mariah Carey, Enrique Iglesias, and Amr Diab.
