Security tightened as trial of 'Belgorod shooter' continues

The second day of the trial of the so-called "Belgorod shooter" Sergei Pomazun, accused of killing six people, began amid tight security measures in Belgorod. The hearing will be open, an aide to chairperson of the regional court Irina Sazonova told Itar-Tass. The court is expected to hear all the witnesses before the end of this week. "The judge will thoroughly question the witnesses in order to find out all the details of what happened," Sazonova said. The prosecutor listed 60 witnesses in the case. "The defense has not lodged any petitions yet," she added. In the court of the first hearing, Pomazun refused to apologize to the victims' relatives, saying he had no intention to "humiliate himself." After he insulted the mother of the girl he had killed, the judge reprimanded him. Pomazun's mother then left the court. Pomazun's father did not turn up for the hearing. He had told the investigator that his son, after serving a sentence in prison, did not behave adequately: he talked to himself and burnt all family and army photos. Investigative Committee spokesman Vladimir Markin said the psychiatric expert examination had found Pomazun sane. More than 50 expert examinations were carried out, including genetic, forensic, ballistic and biological. The investigator said Pomazun had gone on a shooting rampage because of "hooligan motives." At around 11:00, on April 22, Pomazun opened a safe in his house to retrieve his father's Vepr-308 hunting rifle and at least 144 rounds of ammunition. On the same day, he drove to the hunting equipment shop in Narodny Bulvar /Parkway/ in Belgorod at 14:20, Moscow time, entered it and killed two shop assistants and a visitor. He then stole two self-loading hunting rifles Tigr and more than 250 rounds of ammunition. As he was leaving the shop, Pomazun shot at passers-by, killing a man and an underage girl. Another girl died in hospital later in the day. Pomazun was detained near the Belgorod railway station in the evening of the following day. He stabbed the police officer who was detaining him at least four times. He was charged with murder of two or more persons for hooligan motives, concealing crimes, illegal turnover of weapons, theft of weapons and ammunition, an attempted murder of law-enforcement officer. Pomazun was released from prison in December 2012 after serving a four-year sentence for theft.