A gunman who killed at least 6, took hostages in a Ukrainian supermarket that was shot by police
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A gunman who killed at least six people on the streets of Kyiv, Ukraine, before taking hostages and barricading himself in a nearby store, has been shot dead by police, Ukrainian officials said.
Dispersed Ukrainian police raided the store after efforts to contact the gunman failed, the head of Ukraine’s Interior Ministry, Ihor Klymenko, said in a statement on social media. The attacker was killed when he refused to be arrested, he said.
Speaking to reporters at the scene, Klymenko said the gunman killed four people on the street, before entering a supermarket and killing a fifth person.
Mayor Vitali Klitschko said the sixth victim, a young woman, died of her injuries in hospital.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy later confirmed that four hostages had been rescued and that at least 14 people had been injured.
An Associated Press reporter who was at the scene saw the bodies of the victims on the street covered with blankets before they were taken away.
Klymenko said the shooter was born in 1968 but did not give any more information about his identity. The police who were interviewing him spoke with the attacker for about 40 minutes before storming the building, he said.
Before the gunman was shot, a female police officer who was wearing body armor, standing behind an armored car, used a microphone to shout at the gunman, saying: “People should not be blamed for this. Please go and talk to you.”
“We tried to persuade him, knowing that there might be someone injured inside. We even asked to bring tourniquets to stop the bleeding, but he did not respond,” said Klymenko. “Therefore, an order was issued for him not to enter.”
The attacker set his house on fire before shooting
Zelenskyy later wrote on social media that the shooter was born in Russia and had lived “for a long time in the eastern Ukrainian city of Donetsk.” He also said that the assailant burned down his house before he went out into the street armed.
Klymenko said the man was carrying a carbine. The short-barrel gun is legally registered, he added.
Last December, the attacker “went to the license authorities to check the weapon as the permit was expiring. He gave a doctor’s certificate. He also applied to renew his permit for this weapon. That’s all we can say for now,” said Klymenko.
He added that the investigation will determine which health center issued the certificate.
The shooting happened in the Kyiv region, Holosiivskyi, the mayor said. Television footage from the scene showed police hiding in the shopping center that housed the supermarket when the shooting took place. Bystanders were escorted away from the scene.
