The ex-soldier shot and killed five people

Georgia’s Interior Minister Vakhtang Gumilori said that the shooting happened last night in the town of Sagarijo, about 50 kilometers from the country’s capital, Tbilisi. The population of this town is about 10000 people.

In a statement issued by the Ministry of Interior, it is said that the gunman started firing while standing on the balcony of an apartment. Four people inside the premises of the building were killed in the firing, while a police officer who reached there on the report of the accident was also shot by the gunman.

The Ministry of Interior said in its statement that when the police team reached the incident, the gunman also shot himself dead. Interior Minister Vakhtang Gumiluri, speaking to local media, said the gunman was an ex-serviceman. He served in the army between 2006 and 2021 and was also deployed in Afghanistan during the war against the Taliban. According to the Ministry of Interior, this person was born in 1974.

According to Georgia’s One TV, Gumilori said that the police found the body of the attacker covered in blood and that he also had a weapon. He had head injuries. “When additional police teams and a special unit of the Ministry of Interior arrived at the scene, the accused allegedly committed suicide with his weapon,” the Home Ministry said in a statement.

Gomilori further said that the condition of the injured is critical and they are undergoing treatment. He said that an investigation into the incident has been ordered and a case has been registered against the assailant on charges of murder and illegal possession of weapons.

The Interior Minister said that it is not yet clear what was the purpose of this person behind firing and killing people. In October, a man opened fire in a restaurant in the Black Sea port city of Batumi, Georgia, killing a Turkish citizen and injuring three others.