Ukrainian police shoot gunman who killed six and took hostages in supermarket
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said 10 other victims of the mass shooting were hospitalized
Author of the article:Associated Press
Associated Press
Published Apr 18, 2026 • Last updated 14 hours ago • 2 minute read
Ukraine shooting police 1
Police 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, on Saturday, April 18, 2026. Photo by Dan Bashakov /The Associated Press
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — A gunman wielding an automatic weapon killed six people and barricaded himself inside a supermarket with hostages in the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, on Saturday, before he was shot and killed by police, authorities said.
At least 14 people were wounded and taken to hospital.
The 58-year-old attacker was not named by police, but Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he was born in Russia, as authorities worked to piece together a motive for the violence.
The mass shooting — unheard of in wartime Kyiv following Russia’s all-out invasion of Ukraine in 2022 — 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.
Ukraine shooting bodies
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, on Saturday, April 18, 2026. Photo by Dan Bashakov /The Associated Press
An Associated Press reporter at the scene saw victims’ bodies in the street covered with emergency blankets before they were taken away.
“The assailant has been neutralized. 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,” Zelenskyy said.
“It has been established that the attacker set fire to an apartment before taking to the streets with a weapon,“ Zelenskyy 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.”
Ukraine’s special tactical police units stormed the convenience store after attempts to contact the gunman with a negotiator failed, Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko said.
Supermarket customers and staff held hostage
The hostages were supermarket customers and staff.
“We 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,” Klymenko said. “Consequently, the order was given to neutralize him.”
The minister said the gunman had a valid weapon’s permit.
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: “The people are not to blame for this. Please let them go, and we will talk with you.”
Ukraine shooting police 2
A policeman walks past a bullet hole in a window of a supermarket after a gunman opened fire in Kyiv, Ukraine, killing at least five people, wounding others and taking hostages before being killed during an arrest attempt on Saturday, April 18, 2026. Photo by Sergei Supinsky /AFP via Getty Images
Ukraine’s security service, or SBU, described the killings as an act of terrorism.
The shooting took place in Kyiv’s Holosiivskyi district, where several residents said they recognized the gunman.
“I knew him by sight. He seemed like an educated, refined man. You’d never guess he was some kind of criminal,” said 75-year-old Hanna Kulyk, who lived in the same apartment block as the attacker.
“He didn’t socialize much with people — just a greeting and he’d be on his way,” she said. “He lived alone.”
A gunman who killed six people in Kyiv, Ukraine before taking hostages in a supermarket was shot dead by police on Saturday. Read more.
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