A retired military officer has just shot five people dead in Sagarejo, a city in Eastern Georgia.
Another five people were injured in the shooting before the gunman committed suicide.
The 49-year-old offender, whose identity was concealed, had served in the Georgian Defense Forces between 2006 and 2021, according to Common Space.
He was also a member of NATO’s peacekeeping mission in Afghanistan.
One of the victims of the tragic incident was a 38-year-old police officer named Otar Gvinashvili, who died while attempting to protect another person during the shooting.
Gvinashvili’s death was confirmed in the hospital.
In the early hours of Friday morning, the gunman allegedly began shooting with an automatic rifle from both balconies of his third-floor flat, including one overlooking the interior yard.
He allegedly murdered four of his neighbors. A 21-year-old man is still critically ill.
Georgian Interior Minister Vakhtang Gomelauri said the shooter shot himself in the head as security forces approached his apartment.
He went on to say that they had to sweep the area after finding pins from hand grenades.
Gomelauri confirmed reports from neighbors that the shooter’s adult son fled the flat after his father began shooting.
A doctor at a nearby hospital first reported the incident, complaining on Facebook that doctors were unable to approach the scene to assist the injured.