“We heard automatic bursts”: what is known about the shooting near the FSB building in Lubyanka

As a result of the shooting on Bolshaya Lubyanka Street, one FSB officer was killed. This was reported in the department.

According to the Investigative Committee, five more people were injured. The UK clarifies that one of the victims is a civilian.

According to the agency, on the evening of December 19 an unknown man, being at the FSB building, opened fire towards law enforcement officers.

“As a result of the incident, one FSB officer died, five more people, including one civilian, were injured of varying severity. The attacker is eliminated, ”the UK said.

An investigation and operational group is working at the scene. A lawsuit was filed under article 317 of the Criminal Code of Russia (attempt on the life of a law enforcement officer). It was transferred for further investigation to the central office of the department.

• Firing moment

The FSB previously emphasized that the attacker was alone and there was no penetration into the building of the department.

The shooting at Bolshaya Lubyanka was reported to Vladimir Putin, said presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov.

“Of course, the president was informed,” TASS quoted him as saying.

The Russian Guard said that the department’s employees arrived at the scene of the incident and organized a cordon for the safety of citizens, as well as ensured the evacuation of passers-by and inspection of the territory.

The police urged people to leave

According to eyewitnesses, the incident began around 18:00 Moscow time and lasted about an hour. As Vladimir Adyasov, one of the witnesses of the incident, specified in a conversation with RT, the start of the shooting could be mistaken for fireworks, but police officers immediately ordered people to run away.

“At first, people thought it was a firework. But then the policemen who were there made a very smart move - they started shouting to people not to stand and watch, but to run, ”RT Adyasov said.

According to him, there were many shots, but the shooting itself did not last long.

“Usually, one, two, three shots, and then there were a lot of them. I can’t even count, but there were many. So often they walked. About a minute and a half, this went on. The situation was dangerous, ”said an eyewitness.

Another nearby man called the same time the incident began and also mentioned firing bursts.

“People ran in one direction, commandos with machine guns in the other”

“Somewhere at 18: 05-18: 10 we heard the shooting, and it was not at one moment, it was frequent, machine gun bursts were heard,” Sergey Komlev, an eyewitness to the incident, told RT. At the beginning of the shooting, he was in the Starbucks cafe, located opposite house 12 on Bolshaya Lubyanka.

“The shooting was opposite, there were employees hiding behind the cars. They let us go about an hour later, ”Sergey said.

According to him, the cafe first turned off the light, and then asked visitors to leave for the back room. Later everyone was taken out through the back door.

Another visitor to a nearby bar told RT that law enforcement officers approached the establishment at the time of the shooting and asked visitors to move inland, away from windows.

“Of course, people were scared. First, people ran in one direction, then special forces armed with machine guns ran in the other direction, ”said witness Andrei.

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Witness Konstantin, who works in an office opposite the shooting site, said he saw one attacker who was hiding behind the columns of the building.

Konstantin mentioned that after the shots rang out he and his colleagues saw the body of a law enforcement officer on the ground.

“At first we heard popping, and then we saw a policeman lying at the barrier. He lay there for some time, ”said the witness.

“After some time, we noticed that on the back of the building two more people were carried away on a stretcher. First one of the police booths, and then the second from around the corner of the building, ”Konstantin specified.

According to him, in the appearance of the attacker it was difficult to distinguish any features - from the side the attacker seemed just a dark silhouette.

“He constantly changed the“ horns ”at the machine gun and shot around,” the witness said. - He has aimed fire, aimed at someone. It seems to me that he was shouting something, but we did not hear. ”