Manama: A university student in Saudi Arabia has shot his Jordanian teacher in an apparent act of "revenge" after he failed his exams.

The student, who failed last year to pass the orientation exam in preparatory English as demanded by the university in the northern Saudi city of Ha’il to fulfil the enrolment requirements, had to take the course again and with the same teacher.

On the first day, the student reportedly brought a gun to class, hiding it in his clothes, local daily Al Eqtisdaiya reported.

Ten minutes into the course, the student, who was not named, stood up and fired three consecutive shots at the teacher.

The first bullet barely hit the teacher’s belt while the other two struck the wall. The student then fled from the conference hall and ran towards a car waiting for him in front of the university.

Students took the number of the getaway car and reported it to the security staff who rushed to the scene. However, one hour later, the student gave himself up to the police, the daily said.

The university confirmed in a statement the incident, saying that it happened on Tuesday at 10.30am inside the building for preparatory courses given ahead of the formal admission.

“The student fired three shots from a gun he had concealed in his clothes,” the university said. “The teacher was not injured and was able to hide in another place. The student escaped in a car that belonged to one of his friends,” it said.

The attack was promptly condemned by social network users, saying that it was “dangerous and ridiculous.”

“It is an attempted murder, and I wonder how a student would think about killing a teacher,” one blogger, Mon, posted. “What benefits would he gain from killing his teacher? It is really shocking.”

Another blogger, writing under the moniker of Hamoodovic, called for stringent action.

“If every student who fails in his exams carries a gun to kill his teachers, then all universities would turn into grounds for massacres. This student has to be severely punished. He has obviously a history of failures. He failed his exams and he failed to control and manage his anger,” he said.