KYIV — A 58-year-old gunman armed with an automatic weapon killed six people, wounded at least 14 and then barricaded himself in a supermarket with hostages in Kyiv on Saturday before police shot and killed him, authorities said.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the attacker, not named by police, was born in Russia, had a prior criminal record and had lived in the Donetsk region for a long time. Zelenskyy added that the man set fire to an apartment before emerging on the street with a weapon.
The mass shooting unfolded in the busy Holosiivskyi district outside an apartment block and near a shopping center, leaving bodies on a crowded street and bystanders fleeing. An Associated Press reporter at the scene saw victims’ bodies covered with emergency blankets before they were taken away.
Zelenskyy said the assailant took hostages and “tragically, killed one of them.” He said the attacker “murdered four people on the street” and that another woman later died in hospital, bringing the death toll to six. At least 14 people were wounded and hospitalized.
Ukraine’s Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko said special tactical police units stormed the convenience store after negotiators failed to get a response. He said the hostages were customers and staff. “We tried to persuade him, knowing that there was likely a wounded person inside. We even offered to bring in tourniquets to stop the bleeding, but he did not respond,” Klymenko said. He added that the gunman held a valid weapons permit and that authorities decided to “neutralize him.”
Officials said the standoff lasted roughly 40 minutes. A female negotiator, standing behind an armored vehicle, used a loudspeaker and urged, “The people are not to blame for this. Please let them go, and we will talk with you.” Ukraine’s security service, the SBU, described the killings as an act of terrorism.
Neighbors said some recognized the attacker. “I knew him by sight. He seemed like an educated, refined man. You’d never guess he was some kind of criminal,” said 75-year-old Hanna Kulyk, who lived in the same apartment block. “He didn’t socialize much with people — just a greeting and he’d be on his way. He lived alone.”
Investigators continue to work at the scene and authorities have not released the attacker’s name.