Police Kill Hostage-Taker in Rustavi 2 TV Office

An armed person who captured an employee of Rustavi 2 TV on August 18 at the station’s studio in Tbilisi was shot dead by police after half an hour of fruitless negotiations, an official of the Georgian General Prosecutor?s Office said.

According to Rustavi 2 the person showed up at the studio at approximately 5 pm local time and demanded that the station’s archive service to issue archive footage, which turned out not to be available at the television station. It is not specified what kind of footage the hostage-taker demanded.

But according to the General Prosecutor?s Office the hostage-taker was demanding a meeting with General Prosecutor Zurab Adeishvili.

Kakha Koberidze, the First Deputy General Prosecutor said at a news conference that the investigation determined that the person was mentally ill.

?We do not yet know the motive behind his demand to meet with the General Prosecutor,? he added.
 
?The person was posing a threat not only to the Rustavi 2 employee whom he captured, but also to other persons and that is why law enforcers decided to liquidate him. There was no other way,? Koberidze said.

This post is also available in: ქართული (Georgian)