MOSCOW. March 30 (Interfax) - Law enforcement agents have started an operation to detain the man who earlier opened fire at passers-by from the window of his house in Veshki near Mytishchi in the Moscow region, an informed source told Interfax.
Tentatively, the man is fond of hunting and is suspected of illegally possessing arms.
Earlier in the day, the man took two of his close relatives and a man hostage and then let his grandson and daughter go, holding the man, who is his daughter's common law partner, in control in his house.
Another source told Interfax that the man who earlier fired several shots in a suburban settlement near Mytishchi in the Moscow region is a retiree, and the incident was triggered when employees of a Russian Guard department in charge of firearms licenses came to his home intending to inspect weapons in his possession.
"This is a pensioner. Today, employees of the firearms licensing department came to his place to inspect his arsenal," the source said.
A conflict broke out during the inspectors' visit, and the man opened fire, the source said.