Police and investigators at the Moscow Government Service Center in Moscow, Russia, Tuesday, December 7, 2021.
Highlight
- When asked to wear a mask, a gunman opened fire at a government service center in Moscow.
- Two people were killed and several others were injured in the firing.
- According to a spokesman for Russia’s Interior Ministry, the suspect is a 45-year-old Moscow resident.
Authorities and Russian media said a gunman opened fire at a government service center in Moscow on Tuesday, killing two people. Four other people were injured.
Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said on Twitter that a suspect had been taken into custody. Sobyanin gave no details about the attacker or his possible motive, saying only that the incident took place in the southeast of the city.
“The doctors are doing everything possible to help the injured,” the mayor said.
According to Russian Interior Ministry spokeswoman Irina Volk, the suspect is a 45-year-old resident of Moscow. Volk said a 10-year-old girl was among the injured.
Deputy Mayor Anastasia Rakova said four people were injured, and three of them were in critical condition.
The man pulled out a gun and opened fire after an argument with a security guard who asked him to put on a face mask, state news agency Tass reported, citing an unnamed law enforcement source.
Masks are mandatory in indoor public places such as municipal service centres, where residents apply for passports, obtain real estate documents and get help with other bureaucratic tasks.
Russia’s Interfax news agency also reported, citing an unnamed source, that a Glock handgun was found at the shooting site. The ownership of handguns and other short-barreled weapons is severely restricted in Russia. Only professional sports shooters are allowed to own them, and weapons must be stored in shooting clubs.
Russia’s Investigative Committee has launched a criminal investigation into the deadly shooting on charges of murder and illegal arms smuggling. If found guilty, the attacker could face a life sentence.
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