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Russian Businessman Guns Down 2 Moscow Region Officials, 1 Local Resident

The first deputy mayor of the Moscow region city of Krasnogorsk Yury Karaulov

A man on Monday gunned down a local resident after earlier killing the first deputy mayor of the Moscow region city of Krasnogorsk, Yury Karaulov, and the head of the local electric company, Georgy Kotlyarenko, the RIA Novosti news agency reported.

Karaulov and Kotlyarenko were shot in Karaulov's office around 2 p.m., reportedly by Amiran Georgadze, a local businessman working in construction, the Moscow region branch of the Investigative Committee said in an online statement.

The deputy mayor was well acquainted with Georgadze, the report said, adding that the shooter was also part owner of the Krasnogorsk Electric Company.

The three men had been in the middle of a meeting when a verbal altercation broke out and Georgadze called for his driver, who handed him a large bag containing a rifle.

According to investigators, Georgadze tried to fire, but the rifle jammed, after which he switched to a pistol and fired several shots at the men, who died at the scene. The shooter and his driver then fled the crime scene, the report said.

Georgadze later shot and killed a local resident, RIA Novosti news agency reported, citing Investigative Committee spokesman Vladimir Markin, who added that Georgadze was "armed and very dangerous."

Georgadze may have committed the murders as revenge for not being allocated government construction contracts, the report said.

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