Moscow policeman jailed for life after killing two in drunken shooting spree

Published on Friday 19 February 2010 21:12

A RUSSIAN police major has been jailed for life for murdering two people in a drunken shooting spree at a Moscow supermarket last year.

Major Denis Yevsyukov shot dead two people at random and wounded seven others as he went on the rampage at the late-night shop in April.

The off-duty policeman also took several hostages, at one point threatening to "spread their brains over the wall" before being overpowered by rescuers.

CCTV footageshowed Yevsyukov – who had earlier shot a taxi driver dead and wounded several others outside the store – reload his pistol, walk up to a cashier and shoot her in the face. Moments later, he had held a gun against the head of a female hostage, but in a frantic struggle she broke free and escaped.

The court heard that Yevsyukov, who turned 32 on the day of the shootings, had argued with his wife and father-in-law at his birthday party. He then took his police jacket and an illegally held pistol and headed to the shop where he would go on his bloody rampage.

In court, Yevsyukov claimed he had no memory of the events, but the judge deemed his actions as "deliberate and sane".

The case, along with its graphic video footage, shocked Russia and prompted angry calls for a reform of the country's benighted police force, which has a reputation for corruption and brutality underpinned by a generally accepted impunity to the law.

These calls received fresh impetus in October when security camera footage from a restaurant in the city of Smara showed two policemen getting drunk before pulling out their weapons during a fight with other guests.

Russian president Dmitry Medvedev said that, last year, 15,000 police officers were investigated for corruption, but conceded that that was probably "just the tip of the iceberg". He added that it was "frightening" that about 2,000 murders went unsolved each year.

In what has been seen as the Kremlin's response to the Moscow shooting, Mr Medvedev announced on Thursday that he had dismissed 18 high-ranking interior ministry officials and promised a comprehensive reform of the Russian police.

Along with attempting to curb corruption and hold the police accountable to the law, the president's plans also include a cut in the numbers of the interior ministry, regarded by many as a bloated leviathan which has escaped any real reform since the end of communism.

With the ministry employing more than a million people, bureaucrats easily outnumber serving police officers, and, along with creating layers of inefficiency, absorb financial resources.