Abu Dhabi Police Arrest Suspect In Fatal Mall Stabbing of American Schoolteacher

Police with the United Arab Emirates have reportedly made an arrest in the fatal stabbing of a U.S. schoolteacher in a mall restroom earlier this week.

UAE police say they have arrested a female citizen of the country in connection with the murder of 47-year-old American schoolteacher Ibolya Ryan, who had been teaching at a U.S. school in Abu Dhabi when she was attacked at around 1 p.m. Monday.

Surveillance footage from the high-end Bootik Mall on Reem Island shows a veiled suspect wearing a full-body niqab and black gloves walking into the restroom. About 90 minutes later, the suspect is seen leaving the restroom while other females also flee the area. The suspect then evades an attempt by a witness to be stopped and strides out of the mall.

The UAE's Interior Minister Sheikh Saif bin Zayed Al Nahyan said Thursday that the woman arrested in connection with the schoolteacher's stabbing is also suspected of attempting to place a homemade bomb in front of the home of an American doctor working in Abu Dhabi.

"The face-covered suspect is now in police custody," the interior minister said in a brief statement Thursday.

"With God's grace & exceptional follow-up by UAE leaders, our security forces have detained the face-covered criminal," the interior minister added.

The Monday stabbing of Ryan comes just weeks after U.S. Embassies in the UAE warned American workers of possible jihadist attacks on American schools in the regions, following an anonymous post found on a jihadist website.