The massacre occurred at the hands of Muslim gunmen in front of the Nag Hammadi Cathedral, as Coptic Christians were leaving the church after celebrating the midnight Christmas Divine Liturgy.
Disputes over land and inter-faith relationships have sometimes split communities along religious lines, and civil rights groups have criticized local authorities' handling of such cases.
[20] As the Christian worshipers were leaving the Nag Hammadi Cathedral after the Christmas Eve Divine Liturgy, a car pulled up and gunfire was sprayed into the crowd.
On 8 January 2010, three men from the Berber tribe of Al-Hawara were arrested and charged with premeditated murder in association with the Nag Hammadi massacre.
[24] The three accused were Mohamed Ahmed Hassanein, more commonly known as Hamam el-Kamouny, Qurshi Abul Haggag and Hendawi Sayyed.
Despite initially confessing to the police, they pleaded not guilty to the charges of premeditated murder, putting lives of citizens at risk, and damaging property.
[27] Egyptian officials suspected that the shooting may have been "in revenge for the alleged rape of a 12-year-old girl from the Berber tribe of Al-Hawara by a Coptic man" in the nearby town of Farshout in November, which at the time led to five days of riots and attacks on Christian businesses and properties in Upper Egypt.
These Copts were detained at the Nag Hammadi police station for a few days, then transferred to jail in the isolated New Valley Governorate.
[18] The Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights (EIPR) condemned the attack, stating that despite warnings by local church authorities of possible violence during the Coptic holiday, police had not increased security for Christmas.
[18] On 9 January 2010, hundreds of people in Cairo demonstrated, carrying placards condemning "the shocking silence of the authorities" and stating "We are All Copts".
[10][11] The actions of the Egyptian government in the aftermath of the crime were also strongly condemned by Sarah Leah Whitson, the Middle East director of Human Rights Watch.