This article is from the source 'bbc' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.
You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/int/news/-/news/world-europe-14494877
The article has changed 5 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
Version 3 | Version 4 |
---|---|
Gunman dies at Estonian defence ministry in Tallinn | Gunman dies at Estonian defence ministry in Tallinn |
(about 3 hours later) | |
A gunman has died in a shoot-out with police at Estonia's defence ministry in Tallinn, reports say. | |
The motives of the gunman - named as Karen Drambjan, an Estonian citizen born in Armenia - remain unclear. | |
He entered the building firing a pistol and setting off a smoke bomb shortly after 15:00 (12:00 GMT), officials said. | |
The building was quickly evacuated and police cordoned off the area. | |
Ministry employees jumped out of windows to flee the scene, TV images showed. Defence Minister Mart Laar was not in the ministry at the time of the incident. | |
Officials said armed police wearing body armour entered the building about two hours later when the gunman was killed in a firefight. One policeman was injured. | |
Officials denied early reports by Estonia's national broadcaster ERR that he had served in Estonia's army and had taken a security guard hostage. | |
"Hostages were not taken during the incident, although two people who had been in the ministry of defence were briefly in the hands of the perpetrator," said Estonian prosecutors. | |
They added that the gunman had been born in Armenia in 1954 and spoke Russian, but made no demands during the incident. An investigation has been opened. |