Five men were standing trial at a Moscow courthouse where a shooting occurred in the building. Five gang suspects at the Moscow Regional courthouse attacked and brutally beat up a couple of guards in an escape bid attempt, leading to a shooting that killed three people and left four people wounded, according to the Associated Press.
Russia’s Investigative Committee said the incident happened when five suspects who were handcuffed were being led by a couple of the security guards into an elevator at the courthouse. The suspects attacked and beat the security guards.
One of the gang suspects tried to choke one of the security guards, said Russia’s chef investigative analyst according to the Associated Press.
Suspects escape bid attempt from Courthouse
The suspects had executed an escape bid attempt. The gang suspects were able to free themselves and they took the guard's weapons from them. Moscow Regional Court’s spokeswoman, Natalya Osipova, said in a statement the suspects were able to take a couple of the security guards hostage but were ambushed by the courthouse’s security. Osipova said the ambush led to a shootout between the courthouse’s security guards and gang suspects.The other suspects were in another room when the incident happened at the Moscow Regional courthouse.
Three of the gang suspects were killed while four people were wounded during a shootout with Moscow Regional Court’s guards. The four people who were wounded include the two gang suspects and two security guards. One of the gang suspects attacked and beat a female guard that was injured during the shooting. The suspect beat the guard with her weapon and punched her in the face.
According to the BBC news, the security guards who were injured include a National Guard member, who had a gunshot wound and two police officers who suffered injuries as well. The court’s analysts are looking into the matter to see what happened.
Suspects known as Grand Theft Auto Gang
The gang suspects went on trial last summer over a high-profile case of a series of drive-by shootings around Moscow’s roadways.
The prosecutors said the gang suspects put spikes on the roads, pulled drivers out of their cars and gunned them down, according to the Guardian.
The suspects who are accused of murder were a part of a group called the GTA Gang, named after and known as the grisly and violent video game series Grand Theft Auto, the Associated Press reported. The investigation into the Grand Theft Auto gang charged the men, with murder, banditry, and other crimes.
