Ukrainian police shoot and kill a gunman who killed at least 6 and took hostages in a supermarket

An Associated Press reporter on the scene saw the bodies of the victims in the street covered by emergency blankets before they were taken away.

Klymenko said the shooter was born in 1968 but gave no further details as to his identity. Police negotiators spoke with the attacker for roughly 40 minutes before storming the building, he said.

Before the gunman was shot, a female police negotiator, wearing body armor and standing behind an armored vehicle, used a loudspeaker to call out to the assailant, urging him: “the people are not to blame for this. Please, let them go and we will talk with you.”

“We tried to persuade him, knowing that there was likely a wounded person inside. We even offered to bring in tourniquets to stop the bleeding, but he did not respond,” Klymenko said. “Consequently, the order was given to neutralize him.”

Klymenko, who wore body armor, said the man was carrying a carbine. The short-barrel assault rifle was legally registered, he added.

Last December, the assailant “approached the licensing authorities to have the weapon test-fired as the permit was expiring. He provided a medical certificate. He had also submitted an application to renew his permit for the weapon. That is all we can say for now,” Klymenko said.

He added that the investigation will determine which medical institution issued the certificate.

The shooting took place in Kyiv’s Holosiivskyi district, the mayor said. Televised footage of the scene showed police taking cover in the shopping mall that housed the supermarket while shots were fired. Bystanders were escorted away from the scene.

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Associated Press writer Katie Marie Davies in Manchester, England, contributed to this report.

Volodymyr Yurchuk And Derek Gatopoulos, The Associated Press

by The Canadian Press

Ukrainian police shoot and kill a gunman who killed at least 6 and took hostages in a supermarket

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