A gunman opened fire in the Ukrainian capital Kiev on Saturday, killing six people and wounding more than a dozen, officials said.
Five people died instantly and a young woman died in hospital from injuries sustained in the firing. The gunman himself was also killed.
The attacker also took people hostage. He was shot after security forces spent 40 minutes negotiating with him.
In response to the deadly attack, President Volodymyr Zelensky said, “My condolences to the families and loved ones.”
What do we know about the shootings in Ukraine?
Speaking in his nightly video address, President Zelensky said the mass shooting took place in the city’s leafy Holosiivskyi district, injuring 14 people.
Kyiv Mayor Vitaliy Klitschko said authorities had launched a “special operation” to capture the attacker, who he said had burst into a supermarket.
“The shooting resulted in injuries and multiple deaths,” Klitschko said.
Prosecutor General Ruslan Kravchenko said one of the injured was a 12-year-old boy whose parents were killed in the attack.
Television footage from the scene showed police taking cover in the shopping mall where the supermarket was located while gunfire continued.
People standing nearby were taken away from the spot.
Ukrainian Interior Minister Ihor Klimenko later announced that the gunman was killed during an attempt to arrest him.
“The gunman was killed during an arrest in Kiev,” Klymenko said on social media. He said the suspect “had taken people hostage and fired at police officers during the arrest.”
Klimenko also described how the suspect attacked his victims.
Klimenko said, “He was just shooting people at close range. He came up to them and shot them.” “So people’s chances of survival were very low.”
What do we know about the Kiev gunman?
President Zelensky said the gunman was born in Russia and “all circumstances are being established” linking him to a motive for the attack.
Prosecutor General Kravchenko said the shooter was born in Moscow in 1958.
Local media said the attacker was believed to have Ukrainian citizenship and had been living in the Donbass region for a long time. Donbass is one of the focal points of the ongoing war with Russia.
Klimenko said he had a registered firearm, while Zelensky said he had a criminal record. He also said that the suspect had set his apartment on fire before he started shooting.
Zelensky initially said at least five people were killed, adding: “My condolences to the families and loved ones.”
Zelensky said, “Everything that can be known about him and why he did what he did is being clarified. Every detail must be investigated.” “Investigators have several versions. All his electronic devices, phones, all contacts will be examined.”
Ukraine’s SBU security service designated the incident as a “terrorist act”.
Shooting incidents are rare in Ukraine.
Edited by: Wesley Dockery