Man at mosque shot; cousin held

FORREST CITY -- A Forrest City man was charged with first-degree battery Monday after police said he shot and injured his cousin in a mosque in the St. Francis County town.

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Esmail Esmail, 29, was being held in the St. Francis County jail, said detective Jeff Nichols of the Forrest City Police Department. Esmail could face an attempted capital murder charge later, the detective said.

According to police, Esmail went to the mosque at 512 W. Broadway in Forrest City at 9:50 p.m. Friday, took a semi-automatic handgun from his waistband and fired three shots.

One shot hit Radwan Ali Abdo, 43, of Forrest City in the hip. Abdo was flown to Regional Medical Center in Memphis for treatment and was listed in good condition Monday, Nichols said.

Others in the mosque rushed Esmail after he fired the shots and beat him on the head, face and upper body, the detective said.

Nichols said the shooting was the result of a long-running dispute between the two cousins. Family members had called a Memphis man to the mosque Friday to act as a mediator between Esmail and Abdo and to "settle differences," Nichols said.

State Desk on 06/14/2016

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