Minsk chainsaw massacre leaves one person dead and several injured

A man with a chainsaw and an axe attacked visitors of the Europa shopping center in Minsk. One person, a 43-year-old saleswoman, died on the spot. The attack took place at 17:30 on Saturday.

At first there were rumors that there were two attackers. Later, however, it was found that the attacker was alone. He came to the shopping center with a guitar case from which he took out a chainsaw. He used it to inflict injuries on a woman then dropped it and pulled out an axe which might have confused the witnesses.

One of the visitors of the Europa shopping center shared the details of the incident in social networks.

“I had lunch in the Pizza Planet cafe when I heard screams and the sound of a chainsaw coming from the Europa shopping center. First, people in the cafe did not understand what was happening, but then the waitress saw the womanen killed at the entrance to the café and everyone panicked,” the witness wrote.

According to eyewitnesses, the cafe visitors wanted to close all doors, but it was too late — the asked man with an axe got inside. He struck one of the cafe visitors on the shoulder with an axe. One man grabbed a long clothes hanger and started approaching the killer. The man in the mask turned around and just walked away.

“After he left, we locked all the doors and waited for the arrival of the police and the ambulance. The attacker was wearing an orange mask or clothing, but I cannot say for certain. When he came to us, he was with an axe. Next to the cafe entrance was lying a dead woman body, and there was a huge pool of blood. The woman who was having lunch at the cafe was not garvely injured, as she talked, asking that an ambulance arrive as soon as possible,” she said.

At some point workers and cafe visitors saw a crowd of people running along the corridor being chased by a masked man with an axe. Some thought that it was a show, as the young man was very well dressed.

The attacker was detained – a 18-year-old man, a resident of Minsk. Motives for the crime are still unknown. A criminal case under Article 139 part 2 (aggravated murder) was launched.