Regional police commissioner fired after mayor’s murder

Colonel Artur Bdoyan, the Police Commissioner for the Province of Armavir of the national Criminal Police, has been fired after the September 23 murder of Parakar Mayor Volodya Grigoryan and off-duty police officer Karen Abrahamyan.

The dismissal was reported by Ministry of Internal Affairs Narek Sargsyan.

The shooting around midnight on Tuesday also left another person wounded. CCTV footage obtained from the scene and posted online shows Mayor Grigoryan and two men standing outside a home near a highway in Merdzavan – which is in Armavir province near Parakar - when a masked gunman opens fire with an automatic weapon, killing Grigoryan and off-duty policeman Karen Abrahamyan, who was his personal friend. The shooter is seen approaching the unresponsive mayor and striking him with the weapon.

Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan had condemned what he described as a “brazen armed attack” and called on law enforcement agencies to swiftly identify and apprehend everyone involved in the shooting.

“A detailed study must also be conducted into what preventative measures should have been taken in Parakar to prevent this series of violent incidents—who was responsible for carrying them out, and why they failed to do so. Necessary conclusions will be drawn from this investigation,” Pashinyan had said. 

Police haven't named a suspect or motive yet, although an unconfirmed media report indicated a possible blood feud.