CAIRO - A masked man shot dead a policeman at a checkpoint based on a Cairo main road and stole his gun before he fled the scene early Sunday in a rare accident that was described by security authorities as a result of "personal disputes". "Emad Ramadan, a 24-year-old policeman, was shot dead nine times by a masked man, who then stole his gun and ran away. Ramadan was in service when he was shot," a security official said. He added that none of Ramadan's colleagues was hurt. "The other policemen in the Monieb Checkpoint on the Ring Road could not nab the suspect," he said. The official said it was likely the suspect and the dead policeman had 'personal disputes'. "He was targeting Ramadan and none else. It could be a revenge crime," he added. An eyewitnesses of the incident, meanwhile, said that the suspect had tired to steal the gun from the policeman, who resisted him with all his power leading the former to shoot him several times. Ramdan was buried in his village in Fayyoum in upper Egyptas security authorities were searching for the suspected killer. Crimes against police personnel are rare in Egypt.