The first shots were fired on the street. By the time police ended it, six people were dead and at least 14 wounded, one of them a 12-year-old boy.
The shooting took place on Saturday in Kyiv’s Holosiivskyi district, outside an apartment block and a nearby shopping center. Ukrainian officials said the gunman, who lived locally, opened fire on people in the street and then took hostages in a supermarket. An Associated Press reporter at the scene saw bodies lying on the crowded street under emergency blankets.
President Volodymyr Zelensky said four people were killed on the street. A woman, thought to be around 30, died later in hospital. The attacker also killed one hostage.
Police negotiators spent about 40 minutes trying to talk to him. Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko described him as “acting chaotically” and said he made no demands. “We tried to persuade him, realising that there was an injured person there,” Klymenko said. “We offered to bring in tourniquets to stop the bleeding and so on. But he did not respond, so the order was given to eliminate him, especially after he killed one of the hostages.” Police killed the man in the supermarket after a shoot-out. Four hostages were freed.
Prosecutor General Ruslan Kravchenko identified the shooter as a 58-year-old man from Moscow who used an automatic weapon. Zelensky said he had lived in the Donetsk region for a long time, had a prior criminal record, and set fire to his apartment before heading out with the weapon. His motive is still unclear.
The gun was officially registered, officials said, and investigators are now looking at how the permit was issued as well as the shooting itself. Ukraine’s security service, the SBU, called the killings an act of terrorism.
Neighbors recognized him. “I knew him by sight,” said Hanna Kulyk, 75, who lived in the same apartment block. “He seemed like an educated, refined man. You’d never guess he was some kind of criminal.” She said he did not socialize much and lived alone.
Kyiv is often hit in the war with Russia, but shootings like this are rare in the city. NPR described one as unheard of since Russia’s all-out invasion in 2022.
Sources
- Ukraine: At least six dead in Kyiv as gunman opens fire
- A mass shooting in Ukraine's capital leaves 6 dead before police shot and killed the gunman
Sources
- Ukraine: At least six dead in Kyiv as gunman opens fire – BBC
- A mass shooting in Ukraine's capital leaves 6 dead before police …
