General Prosecutor wants supreme penalty for police shooting spree

Ex-police chief Major Denis Yevsyukov could be sentenced to life in prison, as demanded by the General Prosecutor’s Office in court. Yevsyukov faces charges over two murders and attempted murders of more than 20.

The case of Yevsyukov shocked Moscow last April. The policeman, while in uniform, gunned down two people in public: the driver who took him to the supermarket and one of the cashiers. The major also allegedly shot at his colleagues in their attempts to restrain him.

The reasons behind the violent behavior are still not clear. The investigators have put forward the theory that the argument with his wife and alcoholic intoxication led to the rampage. Information that the major had a quarrel with some high-ranking guests present at the party hasn’t been confirmed.

Meanwhile, new details have been published in the mass media. Russian newspaper Moskovsky Komsomolets reports that Yevsyukov could have started shooting before the tragic events at the supermarket. Referring to some unofficial sources, the newspaper says Yevsyukov fired two shorts in the air at the café “Golden Time” where he was celebrating his birthday. It could be suggested from the signs of bullets markings left there. Also, according to some witness accounts, Yevsyukov spoke with an unknown man at the café and got extremely nervous, so much so that he even fell down twice.

Yevsyukov himself has admitted only to the crimes caught by security cameras inside the supermarket, claiming he remembers nothing about the rest.