BLAGOVESHCHENSK. June 15 (Interfax-AVN) - A private in the Russian Armed Forces has been detained after he deserted his unit in the Amur region in Russia's Far East and killed two people.
At 3 a.m. local time on Monday (1600 GMT on Sunday), Private Andrei Troshayev, who had been called up for army service from Tatarstan, deserted his army unit in Raichikhinsk taking a Kalashnikov assault rifle and two magazines with him, a source in the regional police told Interfax on Tuesday. He then shot and killed two people while attempting to steal a VAZ-2121 car.
Local law enforcers immediately blocked off all the local highways and railway stations in hopes of catching the deserter. In addition, all the local radio and TV channels broadcast the description of the gunman.
A woman in the town of Bureya called the local police to report that a car was parked near her house with a serviceman in it who fit the description.
"Five minutes later, the police detained the deserter. The weapon and cartridges were found under the car seat," the source said.