Six Dead After Shooter Opens Fire in Kyiv

By Jacki Thrapp

At least six people died on April 18 when a man opened fire in Kyiv’s Holosiivskyi district. At least 10 other people were hospitalized after the attack.

Ukrainian police say the shooter barricaded himself inside a supermarket with hostages and refused to negotiate a safe release with law enforcement.

“National police stormed the store where ​the attacker ​was,” Interior Minister Ihor ​Klymenko wrote on Telegram.

“⁠He took people hostage and shot at a ​policeman during his detention.”

The suspect, who police identified as a 58-year-old native of Moscow, was fatally shot when law enforcement attempted to arrest him after nearly 40 minutes of negotiations failed.

Four hostages were rescued, according to authorities.

On his Telegram page, prosecutor General Ruslan Kravchenko shared a blurred image of the suspect on the floor of the store next to an automatic weapon.

The prosecutor praised the KORD, an elite special purpose unit of the National Police of Ukraine, for taking action during the tense situation.

“I consider it a matter of principle: the state must act tough and decisively when it comes to a threat to people’s lives,” Kravchenko wrote in an English translation of his Telegram post.

“In such situations, there is no room for compromise, there is only a duty to protect citizens.”

A mother and father were killed, and their son was wounded.

“Their son, born in 2015, is in a children’s medical facility with a gunshot wound, where he is receiving the necessary assistance,” Kravchenko wrote in an English translation of his Telegram post.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy shared more information about the suspect’s actions leading up to the deadly ambush.

“The attacker set fire to an apartment before going out onto the street with a weapon,” Zelenskyy said in a Saturday night post on X.

“He shot dead four more people right on the street, and one more woman passed away in a hospital due to sustained injuries.”

The shooter is believed to have had previous criminal offenses.

The incident is being investigated as a terrorist act, according to Ukraine’s Security Service.

“We expect a swift investigation,” Zelenskyy wrote in a post on X on Saturday.

Zelenskyy instructed Ukraine’s minister of internal affairs and the head of the national police to make all information relating to the case public.

“My condolences to the relatives and loved ones,” Zelenskyy added.

Reuters contributed to this report.