MOSCOW. Aug 12 (Interfax) - The attacker of the building of the Estonian Defense Ministry has committed suicide. The hostages were not injured, the press service of the Estonian police told an Interfax correspondent.
Police are examining the building, searching for bombs.
"The man who seized the Defense Ministry building committed suicide at 5:20 p.m. local time (6:20 p.m. Moscow time). No one was injured, the hostages had been freed," the press service of the Northern Police Prefecture said in a statement circulated in Tallinn.
An unidentified man entered the Estonian Defense Ministry building in the afternoon on Thursday, fired several shots and blew up a smoke-puff charge. He took two men hostage at gunpoint.
The rest of the ministry staff were evacuated. No meetings had been scheduled at the ministry for this day. Defense Minister Mart Laar was not inside the building when the incident occurred.
Laar arrived later but declined to comment on the incident, saying only, "The situation is being handled."
Several special police task forces entered the building afterwards on a mission to free the hostages.
The attacker spoke Russian and was reportedly an ex-serviceman, eyewitnesses said. His demands remain unknown.
Police have started investigating the attack.
Security Police Commissar Martin Arpo told the media that "the gunman was a middle-aged man. He was not wearing a uniform and he used a pistol and smoke charges."
The abductor's identity is being established. Security has been tightened in the building.