Moscow gunman ‘was firearms enthusiast’

A man who was shot dead in central Moscow after launching a deadly attack on the offices of the Federal Security Service (FSB), Russia’s main intelligence agency, has been identified as a 39-year-old gun enthusiast.

He was named by Rossiiskaya Gazeta, the Russian government’s official newspaper, citing police sources. Police have yet to make a formal statement.

One FSB employee was killed as the suspect opened fire with an automatic weapon on Thursday evening, raking the windows of the intelligence agency’s Lubyanka headquarters with bullets from the street outside.

Two FSB officers were critically wounded, while three others had less serious injuries. The suspect was then shot dead by an FSB sniper, officials said. Officers discovered grenades and an improvised explosive device in a rucksack he was carrying.

Security officials said the suspect had not managed to enter the Lubyanka building, which previously housed the main offices of the KGB, the Soviet-era secret police.

Russian media have portrayed the suspect, who lived with his mother, as a loner obsessed with firearms. He was unemployed, but had previously worked as a security guard, including at the embassy of the United Arab Emirates in Moscow.

The suspect recently came third in a shooting competition staged by a Soviet-era patriotic paramilitary sports group that was revived by Vladimir Putin, Russia’s president, in 2009. Police reportedly seized a small arsenal of legally owned weapons, including two semi-automatic rifles and two shotguns from his home. He is reported to have used a Kalashnikov assault rifle during Thursday’s attack.

The motive for the attack remains unclear, although Kommersant, a daily newspaper, reported that witnesses told investigators he was shouting slogans “typical of Islamic State”.

“I noticed he had been somewhat agitated lately,” Baza, a media outlet with links to the security services, cited his mother as saying. She said he was unmarried, with no children or close friends, and that he was passionate about guns. He appears to have had no social media presence.

The assault on the FSB office took place shortly after Putin’s annual press conference in Moscow. The president was attending a gala concert at the nearby Kremlin in honour of the security services during the shootout. The attack may have been planned to coincide with the speech, an FSB source told Reuters.