![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/a-police-officer-inspects-the-site-where-a-gunman-killed-at-TKUATXWOSFFVLG2UXPY6E7AFOQ.jpg\")
<\/p>\nA gunman wielding an automatic weapon killed six people and barricaded himself inside a supermarket with hostages in the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, on Saturday (local time), before he was shot and killed by police, authorities said.<\/p>\n
At least 14 people were wounded and taken to hospital.<\/p>\n
The 58-year-old attacker was not named by police, but Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said he was born in Russia, as authorities worked to piece together a motive for the violence.<\/p>\n
The mass shooting \u2014 unheard of in wartime Kyiv following Russia’s all-out invasion of Ukraine in 2022 \u2014 took place in a busy central district of the city, outside an apartment block and a nearby shopping center, leaving bodies on a crowded street as bystanders fled for safety.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
A police officer inspects the site where a gunman killed at least six people in the streets before being shot dead by police, in Kyiv, Ukraine, Saturday, April 18, 2026. (Source: Associated Press)<\/p>\n
An Associated Press reporter at the scene saw victims\u2019 bodies in the street covered with emergency blankets before they were taken away.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe assailant has been neutralised. He had taken hostages and, tragically, killed one of them. He also murdered four people on the street. Another woman died in the hospital due to severe injuries,\u201d Zelensky said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt has been established that the attacker set fire to an apartment before taking to the streets with a weapon,” Zelensky said in a video posted online. “He had a prior criminal record, had lived in the Donetsk region (in eastern Ukraine) for a long period, and was born in Russia.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ukraine\u2019s special tactical police units stormed the convenience store after attempts to contact the gunman with a negotiator failed, Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko said.<\/p>\n
The hostages were supermarket customers and staff.<\/p>\n
![\"Bodies](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/bodies-of-victims-are-seen-at-the-site-where-a-gunman-killed-ZFBEJEDFSBCGZNKX5K7OHE7GOE.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
Bodies of victims are seen at the site where a gunman killed at least six people in the streets before being shot dead by police, in Kyiv, Ukraine, Saturday, April 18, 2026. (Source: Associated Press)<\/p>\n
\u201cWe tried to persuade him, knowing that there was likely a wounded person inside. We even offered to bring in tourniquets to stop the bleeding, but he did not respond,\u201d Klymenko said. \u201cConsequently, the order was given to neutralise him.\u201d<\/p>\n
The minister said the gunman had a valid weapon’s permit.<\/p>\n
During the 40-minute standoff, a female negotiator wearing body armor and standing behind an armored vehicle used a loudspeaker to call out to the assailant, urging him: \u201cThe people are not to blame for this. Please let them go, and we will talk with you.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ukraine\u2019s security service, or SBU, described the killings as an act of terrorism.<\/p>\n
The shooting took place in Kyiv\u2019s Holosiivskyi district, where several residents said they recognised the gunman.<\/p>\n
\u201cI knew him by sight. He seemed like an educated, refined man. You\u2019d never guess he was some kind of criminal,\u201d said 75-year-old Hanna Kulyk, who lived in the same apartment block as the attacker.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe didn\u2019t socialise much with people \u2014 just a greeting and he\u2019d be on his way,\u201d she said. \u201cHe lived alone.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A gunman wielding an automatic weapon killed six people and barricaded himself inside a supermarket with hostages in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":386801,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[42,43,1979,40,38,41,39,1745],"class_list":["post-386800","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-headlines","tag-news","tag-russia-invades-ukraine","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories","tag-uk-europe"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/386800","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=386800"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/386800\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/386801"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=386800"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=386800"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=386800"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}