62-year-old Businessman Ivan Ankushev Shoot & Kills Two Before Committing Suicide

**kellyhound** · #1 ● 05-10-2009, 02:08 PM

MOSCOW, March 25 2009 - Two men including the mayor of the town of Kirovsk in north Russia's Murmansk Region were shot dead by a local store manager who then committed suicide.

"On March 25, at about 10:30 Moscow time [07:30 GMT], a man killed the head of the Kirovsk administration, Ilya Kelmanzon, and utility services official Sergei Makimov using a TT handgun.

The killer committed suicide at the scene," said Vladimir Markin, a spokesman for the Investigation Committee of the Prosecutor General's Office.

A team of federal investigators has been dispatched from Moscow to investigate the killing.

Vladimir Shaposhnik, chair of the Kirovsk Council of Deputies, identified the killer as Ivan Ankushev, a 62-year-old local resident who reportedly owned a chain of bookstores in the region.

Police in the Murmansk region have told Russia's state news agency Itar-Tass they are working on the theory that the murders resulted from a business dispute.

It is claimed the mayor cancelled Ankushev's lease on a shop.

The police source was quoted as saying: "The businessman came to the mayor's office to sort out the situation ... but they did not manage to resolve it peacefully."

He added: "According to one of the scenarios now being investigated, the businessman fired his gun and then, after killing Kelmanzon and his colleague, he shot himself."

"Ankushev was born and raised in Kirovsk and many people knew him.

He used to work at several municipal enterprises including at the Apatit fertilizer company, but had been recently involved in the trade business and running some book stores and a food store.

Police said the killer was able to enter the town hall without his handgun being detected, as there is no metal detector at the entrance.