Young man seriously wounded by police outside his apartment in Minsk
Vyachaslaw BUDKEVICH, Naviny.by
4 January 2017, 09:44
A police officer responding to a noise complaint opened fire and seriously wounded a young man inside an apartment building in Minsk in the morning on January 1.
The officer, a sergeant, arrived at the address at around 7 a.m. As he knocked on the door, a heavily drunk man stepped outside of the apartment, Alyaksey Klimovich, a spokesman for the Investigative Committee, told BelaPAN. When the officer asked the man to stop making noise, the man punched him in the chest and head in an unprovoked attack, said Mr. Klimovich.
The policeman subsequently warned the attacker that he would open fire if he did not stop, said the spokesman. In response, the man reportedly tried to grab the policeman's gun. The officer made a warning shot before shooting the attacker twice.
Mr. Klimovich said that the attacker and the policeman had been hospitalized. He said that the officer had suffered a head injury.
The spokesman added that the attacker was facing a charge of resisting a police officer under the Criminal Code's Article 363.
Reports had it that the 28-year-old suspect, identified as Andrey, had been wounded in the leg and torso and may have suffered lung damage. He reportedly lost much blood and was said to be in serious but stable condition on Tuesday.
When reached by BelaPAN, Andrey's mother questioned the Investigative Committee's version of the incident, noting that there had been at least two police officers outside her son's apartment before the shooting.
Speaking at the news conference on Tuesday, Dzmitry Kuryan, head of the interior ministry's public order department, denied the woman's claim, saying that the sergeant had been alone when he had fired his gun and two more police officers had arrived at the scene only later.
The police official did not answer a question about whether the sergeant may have acted in a different way in that situation.
4 January 2017, 09:44
Photo: TUT.BY
The officer, a sergeant, arrived at the address at around 7 a.m. As he knocked on the door, a heavily drunk man stepped outside of the apartment, Alyaksey Klimovich, a spokesman for the Investigative Committee, told BelaPAN. When the officer asked the man to stop making noise, the man punched him in the chest and head in an unprovoked attack, said Mr. Klimovich.
The policeman subsequently warned the attacker that he would open fire if he did not stop, said the spokesman. In response, the man reportedly tried to grab the policeman's gun. The officer made a warning shot before shooting the attacker twice.
Mr. Klimovich said that the attacker and the policeman had been hospitalized. He said that the officer had suffered a head injury.
The spokesman added that the attacker was facing a charge of resisting a police officer under the Criminal Code's Article 363.
Reports had it that the 28-year-old suspect, identified as Andrey, had been wounded in the leg and torso and may have suffered lung damage. He reportedly lost much blood and was said to be in serious but stable condition on Tuesday.
When reached by BelaPAN, Andrey's mother questioned the Investigative Committee's version of the incident, noting that there had been at least two police officers outside her son's apartment before the shooting.
Speaking at the news conference on Tuesday, Dzmitry Kuryan, head of the interior ministry's public order department, denied the woman's claim, saying that the sergeant had been alone when he had fired his gun and two more police officers had arrived at the scene only later.
The police official did not answer a question about whether the sergeant may have acted in a different way in that situation.
