An unidentified armed man was shot dead on Aug. 20 after he gunned down a police officer and wounded a security guard at the city hall of the eastern Ukrainian city of Kharkiv.
The man broke and entered the city hall in Kharkiv shortly after midnight. He wounded a security guard and opened fire on two police officers who arrived soon after.
The man killed one of the police officers, 29-year-old Dmytro Kiriyenko, firing two shots. The killer was then shot dead by Kirienko’s fellow officer.
The security guard is currently in the hospital “in a severe condition” after undergoing surgery.
There is no information about why the man attacked the building and its private guards. However, the police consider several possible scenarios: hooliganism, a personal grudge against the city authorities or its workers, and drawing attention to a political message.
The man was about 50 years old, and forensics said he was drunk when committing the crime.
The police seized two pistols and five magazines for them, three of which were still loaded. Forensics found 26 bullet cases around the crime scene. The guns and bullets were initially non-lethal weapons, but were modified for combat use.
The police have seized the footage from CCTV cameras around the area and are currently looking for witnesses. The authorities think the man had no accomplices.
Details of assault
When the unknown man was trying to enter the city hall, he noticed a Skoda car, waiting at the traffic light. In an attempt to scare away the car he shouted at it and then opened fire on it. The car — with two persons inside — moved away and called the police at 00:37 a.m.
Meanwhile, the armed man entered the city hall, wounded the private guard and moved on seeking two other guards, who hid inside the building after their colleague was shot.
The man didn’t find them and returned to the front door of the city hall, where he was faced by the two patrolmen. After he shot the first patrolman in the side of a torso not covered by a bulletproof vest, he tried to run away, but the second patrolman shot at the man’s leg and then at his chest.
The murdered policeman was originally from Donetsk, and had a wife and a 2-year-old daughter. The date of his funeral is yet to be announced.
“He clearly understood the danger… and gave his life for the safety of the people of Kharkiv. The (criminal) had lots of weapons and hence there could have been many more victims…” said Oleksiy Nikolayev, the head of the Patrol Police in Kharkiv Oblast. “He was a very courageous person.”
