Hostage-taker at Happiness shopping centre shot dead?

Witnesses say the man who attacked a female foreign exchange cashier was shot dead. The woman was taken to the intensive care unit.

Minsk resident Yulia, who is now at Happiness shopping centre, has told charter97.org that the hostage taker was shot dead by the police. The Investigation Committee reports that the hostage was released, but there are no official details.

“The man was shot dead with one shot, as people learnt from paramedics. The girls was taken out of the building through another door. She is receiving medical help, the ambulance has left the scene. Earlier, a paramedic asked someone from the crowd to give a T-shirt to stop bleeding. She is so young. She had such a stress.

A security guard working at the shopping centre says the man and his brother planned to rob an exchange office and leave the city. People say he is lives in Angarsakaya Street. He talked only to the priest and asked to give him water from time to time. He is a sniper. He had a stun gun and firearms,” the witness says.