An off-duty police officer went on a shooting spree in a Moscow supermarket early Monday, killing three people and wounding six, after quarreling with his wife on his birthday.
Moscow's police chief suggested that the officer was psychologically unstable, and Interior Minister Rashid Nurgaliyev ordered that stricter psychological tests be carried out on police recruits.
Police Major Denis Yevsyukov, who turned 31 on Sunday and headed the Tsaritsyno police district, began by killing the driver of the Chevrolet-Lanos car who gave him a ride to the Ostrov supermarket at about 1:30 a.m. on Shipilovskaya Ulitsa in southern Moscow, the Investigative Committee said.
Then he went inside the supermarket and killed a female cashier and a male customer. Six other people suffered shot wounds, the Investigative Committee said in a statement.
Four of the six who were wounded were shot in the head and neck, RIA-Novosti reported, suggesting that Yevsyukov had shot to kill.
Moscow police chief Vladimir Pronin said he had spoken with Yevsyukov and believed that the officer might have suffered a moment of temporary insanity. "His eyes were like saucers. He was out of it, didn't remember anything that had happened and was just crying," Pronin said, Interfax reported.
"He was a great officer who was on a good career path, he obviously had some kind of psychotic attack," he told Vesti-24 television.
Yevsyukov was detained by police at the supermarket and will undergo psychiatric testing for at least a month, Interfax reported, citing medical officials.
If charged and convicted of aggravated murder, Yevsyukov faces a sentence of 20 years to life in prison.
Interior Minister Nurgaliyev ordered police across Russia to make their recruitment policies stricter and increase the role of psychologists. "We need to check the moral and psychological climate among our staff," Nurgaliyev said in a statement.
Nurgaliyev also called for a thorough investigation "to find out the reasons that pushed Yevsyukov to this terrible act."
Investigators are examining the supermarket's security cameras for clues, the Investigative Committee said.
A film posted on the Life.ru web site shows a man walking into the store's entrance openly holding a pistol. The camera clock says it is 1:06 a.m. He then walks down an empty drinks aisle, swaying and fiddling with the gun and apparently looking inside his passport.
The weapon that Yevsyukov used was not his service pistol but a Makarov pistol that was reported missing in 2000, the Investigative Committee said. The gun, made in 1968, was reported lost in the Rostov region, Interfax said.
Yevsyukov celebrated his birthday on Sunday night in a cafe and got into an argument with his wife. When they got home, he put on his uniform jacket over his clothes and went out, the Investigative Committee said.
Pronin, the police chief, said Yevsyukov's family troubles preceded the Sunday quarrel. "For around two weeks, there were disturbances and disputes -- arguments with his father-in-law and wife," he said.
The head of the Investigative Committee, Alexander Bastrykin, has taken the case under his personal control, Interfax reported.
Life.ru identified the slain driver as Sergei Yevteyev, 35, and the dead cashier as Elmira Turduyeva, 30. The male customer was a 27-year-old Muscovite, RIA-Novosti reported.
Life.ru posted a video interview with one of the victims, Luiza Mukhitdinova, 19, who had plaster and bandages around her neck. A bullet went through her jaw and came out through her neck, she said. Mukhitdinova said Yevsyukov walked in wearing a shirt and tie with his uniform jacket on top. He was drunk, she said. "It all happened very quickly, in split seconds," Mukhitdinova said, speaking with difficulty. Yevsyukov didn't appear to aim and even shot in the air, she said, estimating that there were at least 20 shots.
Yevsyukov was appointed to his current post in November. He began serving on the police force in 1995. A photograph on the web site of the police force for Moscow's southern district shows Yevsyukov holding a submachine gun on a visit to an orphanage in March.
Viktor Ageyev, the head of the southern Moscow police district, resigned this month after he was criticized for failing to lower crime figures.
Incidents of police using guns on peaceful citizens are relatively rare in Moscow. In 2004, a policeman shot and wounded a Tajik citizen after extorting a bribe at Sokolniki metro station. In 2005, a drunk policeman shot a woman in the foot after an argument, RIA-Novosti reported.
Moscow's police chief suggested that the officer was psychologically unstable, and Interior Minister Rashid Nurgaliyev ordered that stricter psychological tests be carried out on police recruits.
Police Major Denis Yevsyukov, who turned 31 on Sunday and headed the Tsaritsyno police district, began by killing the driver of the Chevrolet-Lanos car who gave him a ride to the Ostrov supermarket at about 1:30 a.m. on Shipilovskaya Ulitsa in southern Moscow, the Investigative Committee said.
Then he went inside the supermarket and killed a female cashier and a male customer. Six other people suffered shot wounds, the Investigative Committee said in a statement.
Four of the six who were wounded were shot in the head and neck, RIA-Novosti reported, suggesting that Yevsyukov had shot to kill.
Moscow police chief Vladimir Pronin said he had spoken with Yevsyukov and believed that the officer might have suffered a moment of temporary insanity. "His eyes were like saucers. He was out of it, didn't remember anything that had happened and was just crying," Pronin said, Interfax reported.
"He was a great officer who was on a good career path, he obviously had some kind of psychotic attack," he told Vesti-24 television.
Yevsyukov was detained by police at the supermarket and will undergo psychiatric testing for at least a month, Interfax reported, citing medical officials.
If charged and convicted of aggravated murder, Yevsyukov faces a sentence of 20 years to life in prison.
Interior Minister Nurgaliyev ordered police across Russia to make their recruitment policies stricter and increase the role of psychologists. "We need to check the moral and psychological climate among our staff," Nurgaliyev said in a statement.
Nurgaliyev also called for a thorough investigation "to find out the reasons that pushed Yevsyukov to this terrible act."
Investigators are examining the supermarket's security cameras for clues, the Investigative Committee said.
A film posted on the Life.ru web site shows a man walking into the store's entrance openly holding a pistol. The camera clock says it is 1:06 a.m. He then walks down an empty drinks aisle, swaying and fiddling with the gun and apparently looking inside his passport.
AP
Surveillance video footage from the Ostrov supermarket showing Yevsyukov reloading his pistol early Monday.
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Yevsyukov celebrated his birthday on Sunday night in a cafe and got into an argument with his wife. When they got home, he put on his uniform jacket over his clothes and went out, the Investigative Committee said.
Pronin, the police chief, said Yevsyukov's family troubles preceded the Sunday quarrel. "For around two weeks, there were disturbances and disputes -- arguments with his father-in-law and wife," he said.
The head of the Investigative Committee, Alexander Bastrykin, has taken the case under his personal control, Interfax reported.
Life.ru identified the slain driver as Sergei Yevteyev, 35, and the dead cashier as Elmira Turduyeva, 30. The male customer was a 27-year-old Muscovite, RIA-Novosti reported.
Life.ru posted a video interview with one of the victims, Luiza Mukhitdinova, 19, who had plaster and bandages around her neck. A bullet went through her jaw and came out through her neck, she said. Mukhitdinova said Yevsyukov walked in wearing a shirt and tie with his uniform jacket on top. He was drunk, she said. "It all happened very quickly, in split seconds," Mukhitdinova said, speaking with difficulty. Yevsyukov didn't appear to aim and even shot in the air, she said, estimating that there were at least 20 shots.
Yevsyukov was appointed to his current post in November. He began serving on the police force in 1995. A photograph on the web site of the police force for Moscow's southern district shows Yevsyukov holding a submachine gun on a visit to an orphanage in March.
Viktor Ageyev, the head of the southern Moscow police district, resigned this month after he was criticized for failing to lower crime figures.
Incidents of police using guns on peaceful citizens are relatively rare in Moscow. In 2004, a policeman shot and wounded a Tajik citizen after extorting a bribe at Sokolniki metro station. In 2005, a drunk policeman shot a woman in the foot after an argument, RIA-Novosti reported.
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