A personal disagreement erupted into a mass brawl between two gypsy groups in the Stavropol region, claiming the life of one participant.
"On Monday evening in the city of Ipatovo in the Stavropol region a domestic fight broke out involving about 12 local residents, all of them ethnic gypsies," Russia's Interior Ministry told Interfax.
Police that arrived at the scene attempted to stop the fight but one of them was hit on the head with a stick, Gazeta.ru reported.
The policeman's colleague then fired his assault rifle five times into the air to calm down the enraged group, after which part of the crowd was detained.
As a result of the incident a senior police sergeant was hospitalized along with three members of the fight, one of whom died Tuesday night.
A criminal case has been filed on charges of hooliganism, which can carry a sentence of up to seven years in prison.
Police are still searching for several fight participants that fled from the scene.
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