KYIV — A gunman killed six people and took hostages inside a supermarket in Kyiv’s Holosiivskyi district on Saturday before being shot dead by police, Ukrainian officials said.
The attacker, described by authorities as a Russian-born man who lived locally, first opened fire on passersby on a street in the southern district, killing four people, officials said. He then entered the Velmart supermarket, where he fatally shot another person and barricaded himself with several customers and staff as hostages, according to Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko and Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko.
Special tactical police units stormed the store after negotiations with the gunman failed, Klymenko said in a statement. The suspect was killed while resisting arrest during the operation, which followed about 40 minutes of attempts to contact him through a negotiator.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in a social media post that at least five people were killed in the initial shooting and that a sixth victim died later in hospital. He offered condolences to the families of the victims and said an inquiry had been ordered.
“We tried to persuade him, knowing that there was likely a wounded person inside,” a police hostage negotiator told reporters at the scene, according to Reuters.
At least 10 to 15 other people were injured, including a child, officials said. Some received medical assistance at the scene while others were hospitalized. Four hostages were rescued, Zelenskyy said.
Details about the gunman’s identity and motive remained unclear as of Sunday. Klymenko said the man was not known to have close ties with neighbors.
The incident occurred amid the ongoing war with Russia, during which firearms have become more widespread in Ukraine, though authorities have not linked the shooting to the conflict.
As of early Sunday, the area around the supermarket remained cordoned off by police. No further casualties were reported after the police operation concluded.
Ukrainian authorities have opened a terrorism investigation into the case, officials said.
