Shortly after midnight on April 27, Yevsyukov stalked the aisles of the Ostrov supermarket in southern Moscow for 50 minutes, shooting randomly at employees and customers, his every move caught on surveillance cameras.
“We were standing there, chatting, and were getting ready to leave,” Gerasimenko said. “And then we saw a policeman coming. He came up very calmly, but one of the girls, Luiza, noticed that he was wobbling as he walked. And then he started shooting.”
Yevsyukov fired at least 15 shots before a police unit called to the scene subdued him, wrestling the gun from his hands, according to the official police account. Sergei Yevteyev, a taxi driver, who had driven Yevsyukov to the supermarket, and Elmira Turdayeva, a cashier, were killed.
In the aftermath of the shootings, even Nurgaliyev has expressed concern at criminality in the police force, saying on July 30 that police misconduct was widespread.
Recent inspections of police departments “uncovered gross violations of the law,” Nurgaliyev told a meeting of top Interior Ministry officials on July 30. “These violations bring to naught the efforts of thousands of our colleagues, who risk their lives to guard public order.”
Clearly, the vast majority of crimes carried out by police officers do not reach the viciousness of Yevsyukov’s. Most involve bribe-taking, which regularly affects Russians, who are subject to document checks on the streets or surprise inspections at work from officers seeking kickbacks for minor violations, real or contrived. Just before the attacks in April, a detective from Yevsyukov’s department was charged with demanding an US$890,000 bribe from a local businessman.
A failure to hold the police accountable has contributed to an atmosphere of mistrust that surrounds Russian law enforcement agencies, experts said.
Nurgaliyev vowed shortly after the attacks that he and his ministry would do “anything in our power” for the victims. Gerasimenko has yet to receive any government support for his rehabilitation, he and his family say.
“We haven’t received one kopek,” said Muslim Gerasimenko, Ilya’s father. He said the Interior Ministry promised to send his son to a ministry center specializing in gunshot wounds, but announced at the last minute that there would be a fee for the treatment. (Gerasimenko needs another operation to remove the bullet in his chest.)
The Gerasimenkos filed a civil suit for about US$160,000 against the government on the grounds that Yevsyukov was a government employee. A judge turned down the suit on July 29; the crime, he argued, was committed by citizen Yevsyukov, not Major Yevsyukov.
Police officials will not reveal the whereabouts of Yevsyukov, who has not been seen publicly since his arrest. Officially, he is said to be undergoing psychological testing at an undisclosed location, but the victims’ lawyers worry that he could be wrongfully declared insane, preventing him from giving testimony that could be damaging to the Interior Ministry.
“I hope that he gets life in prison,” Ilya Gerasimenko said. “If he’s found unfit to stand trial, how was such a person found fit to head an entire precinct?”
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