- Sputnik International
Russia
The latest news and stories from Russia. Stay tuned for updates and breaking news on defense, politics, economy and more.

Police recover weapon used in attempt to kill crime boss

© RIA Novosti . Andrey Stenin / Go to the mediabankInvestigators have also recovered footage from nearby surveillance cameras, which is currently being studied.
Investigators have also recovered footage from nearby surveillance cameras, which is currently being studied. - Sputnik International
Subscribe
Police recovered a firearm used in Thursday's attempt to kill suspected Russian crime boss Aslan Usoyan, better known as Grandpa Hassan.

Police recovered a firearm used in Thursday's attempt to kill suspected Russian crime boss Aslan Usoyan, better known as Grandpa Hassan, Moscow's police chief said on Friday.

The assailant fired shots at 73-year-old Usoyan, who apparently came to visit his son, at around 20:00 local time [16:00 GMT] on Moscow's main Tverskaya Street. The man and his bodyguard, identified only by his surname, Bagramyan, were rushed to city hospitals.

The shooter was hiding in a building on the opposite side of the street.

"Police officers examined the apartment where the shooter was staying, and found the weapon, from which the shots were made," the head of the Moscow police department, Vladimir Kolokoltsev, said.

He did not specify the type of the weapon, but law-enforcement sources earlier said the suspected crime boss was shot three times in the stomach with a Makarov pistol.

The police chief said the apartment's owner was already identified. Investigators have also recovered footage from nearby surveillance cameras, which is currently being studied.

Kolokoltsev said also that Usoyan was already operated on. He and his bodyguard are being given medical care, but their condition is unknown.

A criminal case had been opened into attempted murder.

A RIA Novosti correspondent earlier reported from the crime scene that "a man, who looked drunk, and a young woman" had been detained near the crime scene, but the reason for their detention was unknown.

Usoyan was born in Tbilisi, the capital of Georgia, on February 27, 1937. Many of the Caucasian criminal groups in Russia were said to obey him, especially in the Urals and the south. He was also believed to command strong influence in Moscow, St. Petersburg and central Russia, as well as in some CIS countries and further abroad.

His murder comes two months after another suspected criminal boss, the similarly well-known Tariel Oniani, or Taro, was sentenced to 10 years in prison for kidnapping and extortion.

Taro and Grandpa Hassan were believed to be rivals and some reports said their criminal empires had been engaged in a turf war since 2006.

Usoyan was close to another alleged crime boss, Vyacheslav Ivankov, nicknamed Yaponchik or Little Japanese. He was shot on October 9, 2009, on leaving a restaurant in Moscow and died some time later at a city hospital.

MOSCOW, September 17 (RIA Novosti)

Newsfeed
0
To participate in the discussion
log in or register
loader
Chats
Заголовок открываемого материала