Riyadh, Jun 1 (IANS): Two teachers were killed by a "disgruntled employee" in a shooting at a private school here on Wednesday.

The shooter, was a former Iraqi teacher who had been laid off, state-linked Saudi newspaper Okaz reported. The gunman fled the scene after firing and there were no children present during the attack on the Kingdom School in Riyadh, local media reported.

The victims were the school's principal and a teacher, reports said.

The shooting was "a case of a disgruntled employee," Talal Al-Maiman, CEO of Kingdom Holding and chairman of Kingdom Schools said.

The victims were a Saudi national and a Palestinian national, he said, while a third person was also injured in the rampage. The security situation at the school was contained.

A spokesperson for the Saudi Interior Ministry said the attack was being treated as a "criminal case", rather than a terror investigation.

The official Twitter account of the US Mission in Saudi Arabia had posted a warning to avoid the area that had heavy police presence.

The tweet that was posted around 2 p.m. (local time), stated that "shooter still at school. School closed, no children present. Please avoid area."

Another tweet around 3.15 stated: "Ongoing security incident at Kingdom School as of 3 p.m. local time. Please avoid area due to heavy police presence."