The General Department for the Investigation of Particularly Important Cases of the Investigative Committee of the Republic of Armenia received and accepted for proceedings the criminal cases initiated regarding the killing of two people and the infliction of firearm injuries on four people in the city of Gavar, as well as cases of mass disorder accompanied by violence and destruction of property committed by a group of people, which have been combined into a single proceeding. This was stated in a communiqué issued by the Investigative Committee.
On 28 April 2020, at approximately 17:00, on the roadway of Azatutyan Street in the city of Gavar, the person(s) suspected of committing the crime, in a manner dangerous to the lives of many, opened fire at residents of the Noratus community — Vahe Avetisyan, Hrachya Hagopyan, Armen Sargsyan, Artyom Petrosyan and Sasun Meloyan — and at residents of Gavar — Zohrab Paronikyan, Armen Haytean and Vardan Tavoyan. As a result, V. Avetisyan and Z. Paronikyan died on the spot from injuries incompatible with life, while the others, having sustained bodily injuries, were transported to the “Gavar Medical Center” CJSC (Closed Joint-Stock Company).
On 28 April 2020, the Gavar division of the RA Police received an alarm from the “Gavar Medical Center” CJSC that a group of people had attacked the Gavar hospital, broken the windows and property, and inflicted blows on Davit Haytean, causing various bodily injuries, puncture-laceration wounds and severe blood loss.
It was also established that the relatives and friends of Z. Paronikyan and V. Avetisyan, upon learning that the latter had died, and believing that A. Haytean, D. Haytean and V. Tavoyan, who were at the hospital, had committed the murder of their relatives, stormed the hospital with the intention of killing them, attacked them with cutting and stabbing instruments and attempted to kill them, but due to circumstances beyond their control and the intervention of the police, they did not complete the crime and fled.
In addition, on 28 April 2020, at approximately 17:00, during the exchange of fire in which Z. Paronikyan, a resident of the city of Gavar, and V. Avetisyan, a resident of the village of Noratus, were killed, injuries were also sustained by residents of the village of Noratus — H. Hagopyan, A. Petrosyan, A. Sargsyan, S. Meloyan, A. Haytean and V. Tavoyan.
The relatives and friends of V. Avetisyan and Z. Paronikyan, numerous individuals, believing that A. Haytean and V. Tavoyan, who had sought medical care at the Gavar hospital, had committed their murder, surrounded the entrances of the Gavar hospital, and, using violence against the police officers on duty there, entered the hospital, breaking the entrance doors as well as the hospital’s property.
The Investigative Committee reports that at this time 15 people have been arrested on suspicion of participating in the mass disorder in Gavar.
