Family and friends prepared for an Iraqi burial of American teacher Jeremiah Small, scheduled for Tuesday in the northern Iraq city of Sulaymaniyah, where the 33-year-old taught for six years.

An 11th grade Iraqi student shot to death Small in his classroom last Thursday, then shot himself. Emergency workers transported the student, Beyar Talabani, great-nephew of Iraqi President Jalal Talabani, to a nearby hospital where he died several hours later of his self-inflicted wound. (See “Killed in action,” March 1.)

Over the weekend, family members of Small flew to Iraq from Washington state to meet with U.S. Embassy officials and make arrangements for a burial in Iraq’s Kurdish north. Small is the first U.S. civilian to be killed in Iraq since nearly all U.S. military forces pulled out of the country last December.

The U.S. Defense Department has reported one U.S. military death in 2012, while Iraqi civilian casualties have risen significantly since the pullout. Iraq’s Ministry of Interior reported nearly 500 Iraqis killed in January due to bombings and shootings. Monday gunmen disguised as police raided homes and checkpoints in western Iraq, killing at least 27 members of Iraqi security forces. The rise in violence has been attributed to an al-Qaeda resurgence following the U.S. pullout.

In contrast, the shooting of Small appears to be the work of a lone gunman, whom fellow students described as having “personal issues.”

Initial reports that the shooting followed an argument have been countered by those attending the school—including a teacher in the classroom at the time of the shooting—who said Small was opening class in prayer with his head bowed when the gunfire began.

“Mr. Jeremiah’s hands were still folded in prayer when he fell,” said a student. Others reported on the day before the shooting “a heated discussion” in the classroom, “during which the pupil threatened to kill the teacher because of conflicting religious views,” according to former student Meer Ako Ali, writing in The Kurdistan Tribune. … COMPLETE STORY >>

Read Mindy Belz’s complete Web Extra report.