CHISINAU (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 01st July, 2023) Moldovan Prime Minister Dorin Recean said that a citizen of Tajikistan opened fire at the Chisinau airport on Friday, killing two people.
The Chisinau police said that an unknown person opened fire at the airport, adding that passengers were evacuated, there were two victims. Later, Moldovan special police brigade detained the foreigner.
"A serious security incident at Chisinau International Airport. A 43-year-old citizen of Tajikistan was banned from entering Moldova for security reasons. During the escort to the sterile zone for return, he fatally shot a border guard and an airport security officer with a pistol he seized from a border police officer," Recean said on social media.
One of the passengers was injured and received medical assistance, the official added.
Moldovan President Maia Sandu said that state institutions had been placed on high alert and that police and law enforcement agencies had been put on stand-by throughout the country in response to the shooting.
The office of Moldova's chief prosecutor said it had opened a criminal investigation against the gunman on terror-related charges. The crime is punishable with a prison sentence of between 16 and 20 years or life imprisonment under the country's criminal code.
Moldova's acting chief prosecutor, Ion Munteanu, said later in the day that the Tajik national had been taken to hospital in critical condition.
"Law enforcement officers intervened and tried to negotiate with him. The suspect was injured as a result of their actions. He is currently hospitalized in critical condition under guard," Munteanu told reporters.
He said that police and the Chisinau prosecutor's office are investigating the incident, adding that the prosecutor's office for the fight against organized crime and special cases will conduct the criminal proceedings.
Meanwhile, the Tajik Foreign Ministry has requested information about the perpetrator's citizenship, Shohin Samadi, the head of the ministry's information department, told Sputnik.
"We are currently unable to confirm whether the person who opened fire at the Chisinau airport is a citizen of Tajikistan," he said.
The official added that Tajikistan's embassy in Ukraine, which also represents Tajik nationals in Moldova, has requested the information and is "awaiting a formal response from the Moldovan partners."
