New Details on Citizens Injured in Violent Incident in Aparan

The condition of one of the citizens hospitalized at the "Armenia" Medical Center following the shootings in Aparan remains extremely critical. This was stated today, June 29, in an interview with News.am by the deputy head of surgery at the hospital, Ashot Kurghinyan.

The condition of the other hospitalized citizen is satisfactory.

Recall that on June 19, a murder occurred on the road section leading from Aparan to Nigavan. According to the Investigative Committee, a 32-year-old man had given a sound signal to an "Infinity" branded vehicle in Aparan around 10:30 PM on June 18, while driving with his brother. He bypassed the vehicle and stopped it, approached the driver, and got into an argument with him. A group of local residents intervened.

The next day, he returned to Aparan with his brother and several other individuals, where he encountered one of those who had intervened in their argument near a gas station and assaulted him. In the evening, the argument continued near the village's dump in Nigavan, during which the 32-year-old man opened fire at those he was arguing with using a gun he had with him.

Two residents of Aparan, who were transported to the Aparan medical center with gunshot wounds, died, while five others were taken to medical centers in Yerevan.

According to media reports, the brothers were relatives of Mathevos Asatryan, a deputy from the "Civil Contract" faction, and the cousin of Edgar Parvanyan, the vice-governor of Aragatsotn from the same party. The argument reportedly began after young men from Aparan insulted Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan. Furthermore, there are reports that the shots were fired not from a hunting rifle, as claimed by the police, but rather from an AK-47-type automatic rifle.

Mathevos Asatryan denied on his Facebook page any involvement of himself or his family in the incident. Edgar Parvanyan also described these reports as false.

All seven citizens who died or were injured were from Aparan. The deceased young men were 27-year-olds Hamik Mikayelyan and Tigran Harutyunyan. Neither was married. Hamik worked at one of the Ministry of Defense military units, while Tigran worked at the "Gntunik" food center in Aparan. He was a relative of the Aparan mayor, Karen Yeghiazaryan.

A criminal case has been initiated under Article 104, Part 2, Clause 6 of the Armenian Criminal Code (murder committed in a particularly dangerous manner for many lives) and Article 235, Part 1 (illegal acquisition, sale, storage, transportation, or carrying of weapons, military equipment, explosive materials, or explosive devices).