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MOSCOW. — Three suspects were shot dead as they attempted to flee a court just outside Moscow, officials said.
The men were on trial as presumed members of a criminal group dubbed the ‘‘GTA Gang’’.
“Three suspects have been shot dead and two others injured while trying to make their way from the lift after emergency opening of the doors,” local police spokesperson Tatiana Petrova said in a statement.
She added that two police officers were injured.
Svetlana Petrenko, spokesperson for Russia’s Investigative Committee, said one of the suspects tried to choke an escort officer while in a lift at Moscow Region Court.
“In the end, they managed to seize the escort’s weapons, but one of the officers was able to call in reinforcement from the National Guard,” she told TASS. The shoot-out was earlier confirmed to RT by Natalia Osipova, the head of the court’s press service, but she did not provide any details.
Osipova also told news agencies that a hearing concerning the notorious “GTA gang” was scheduled to take place at the time of the attack. The group was given its name based on the violent ‘‘Grand Theft Auto’’ (GTA) computer game series, as the gang has been accused of murdering drivers on roads near the Russian capital.
A spokesperson for the Moscow Region Health Ministry told RT that five people with injuries were taken to a nearby hospital and were being treated for gunshot wounds.
A health official told TASS that three of the injured were National Guard and police officers, as well as two suspects. Attorney Sofia Rubasskaya, who witnessed the incident, told RIA Novosti that no fewer than 20 shots had been fired.
“There was a shoot-out at the court, some employees were injured, a female enforcement agent was injured as well,” she said. The Moscow Region prosecutor’s office launched an inquiry into the incident to establish whether standards of escorting high-risk suspects were met.
Later in the day, the court resumed hearings, but was still limiting access to visitors. — RT.
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