Ukrainian police on Sunday morning detained a gang of burglars in Kyiv`s Desniansky district after they had arrived from the village of Kniazhychi in Kyiv region`s Brovary district where five police officers were killed by friendly fire in a shooting incident earlier that day, according to the Ukrainian Interior Ministry.
They arrived in a Mercedes Vito van to be changed for the two black Toyota Land Cruiser 200 SUVs they had prepared beforehand for a getaway.
”An arsenal of weapons (including two Glock handguns, a Makarov pistol with a suppressor), ammunition, including hand grenades, special tactical equipment (walkie-talkie sets, radio jammers) and other evidence pointing to illegal activities have been found in the detainees` vehicles,” the ministry`s media liaison office reported on Sunday.
Three of the detainees are residents of Kyiv and Kyiv region, another one is from Lviv region. Police are conducting investigative actions, including raids on their apartments.
Criminal proceedings were opened under Article 187 (robbery) of the Criminal Code of Ukraine. Additional classification of their crimes is being considered.
”There are grounds to suspect the detainees of committing a series of robberies in apartments and offices in the city of Kyiv and Kyiv region,” the ministry`s media liaison office said.
As UNIAN reported earlier, five members from different state law enforcement agencies were shot dead in a shooting incident between police and the State Guard Service, a police force that protects property, in the village of Kniazhychi in the early hours of December 4.
Undercover police officers from the criminal investigation department and a SWAT team were watching the scene to detain the burglars, but a burglar alarm went off in a house nearby, prompting the arrival of a State Guard Service group. The latter detained the police officers, having mistaken them for the burglars.
The special police officers then mistakenly decided the criminals had captured their undercover colleagues and opened fire. Two State Guard Service members, two undercover police officers and a SWAT team member were killed.
Having heard the gunfire, the suspects in the robberies who were to be caught red-handed on that day gave up their plan and left the scene.
