Egyptian lawyers protest colleague's shooting at courthouse

Members of Egypt's lawyers union say it has suspended work in Cairo's Nasr City criminal court to protest a police officer shooting a lawyer there.

A security official says that the accused officer shot the lawyer in the chest after mistaking him for a fleeing suspect Saturday. The official says the shooting came after lawyer, Mohamed el-Gaml, was seen arguing with prosecutors and police officers at the courthouse.

The official, speaking Sunday on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to journalists, says the lawyer is hospitalized in intensive care. The officer has been detained pending an investigation.

Lawyer Khaled Abu Kirsha disputed the official's account and said his colleague should not have been shot. Lawyers in a Nile Delta court also have suspended their work.