Tuesday, July 31, 2012 -
A second Kazakh policeman injured in a confrontation with a criminal gang over the weekend has died, Kazakh news sources said Tuesday.
Police Lieutenant Ernaz Kozhakhmetov succumbed to injuries sustained Saturday in the run-in with the gang, all the members of which were killed by a police raid on Monday.
The 26-year-old lieutenant had previously served in the armed forces. He was single. His funeral will be held in his home village of Bakanas in the Almaty region.
Kazakh police shot and killed six suspected criminals on Monday in a daylight shootout after the gunmen refused to surrender their arms.
The shootout occurred in an apartment complex where the criminals had barricaded themselves. All six have served various stints in prison for crimes ranging from burglary, assault, and theft.
The police raid forced the evacuation of 130 people, police said. Residents of the apartment block were ushered out of the building so police could storm the apartments where the criminals were located.
“All six criminals were killed when police returned fire,” a statement from the Kazakh Prosecutor-General, published on www.prokuror.kz, said.
“There were no casualties among civilians and security servicemen.”