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IN BRIEF: Attacker arrested, two people killed in Chisinau airport shooting

According to preliminary reports, the attacker flew to Chisinau from Turkey

© Vadim Denisov/TASS

CHISINAU, June 30. /TASS/. The man who started shooting at the Chisinau airport has been detained by the special forces of the Moldovan police. Two people died as a result of the incident. The assailant himself was wounded during the attack.

TASS has gathered the main details of the incident.

Details of attack

- A foreign national arriving in Chisinau was denied entry into Moldova. When he was escorted to a sterile area, he snatched a gun from one of the border guards and opened fire, wounding two people, the Moldovan government's press service told TASS.

- According to media reports, he then barricaded himself in one of the airport's buildings and took several people hostage.

- According to preliminary reports, the attacker flew to Chisinau from Turkey, a source in the country’s Interior Ministry told TASS.

- Two of the wounded died at the scene.

Operation to neutralize assailant

- The special police unit "Molniya" (Lightning) quickly arrived at the airport and prepared to disarm the attacker. The entire leadership of the Moldovan Interior Ministry also gathered outside the terminal, the agency’s spokeswoman Diana Fetko said.

- The shooter was eventually arrested, a Moldovan newspaper reported.

- The assailant was wounded during the arrest. A source in the Moldovan Interior Ministry told TASS that the man was receiving medical treatment.

Security Measures

- Passengers and staff of the Chisinau airport were evacuated.

- All flights have been postponed until the incident is resolved.

- The Prosecutor General's Office opened a criminal case under Article 278 of the Moldovan Criminal Code (an act of terrorism committed with the murder of several people).

- Moldovan law enforcement agencies have been put on alert, the country’s president Maia Sandu said.

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