Vahe Avetisyan, who is better known for his nickname “Bear of Noratus village” and who received a lethal firearm injury during the shootings that took place in Gavar town yesterday, was 33 years old and was preparing to get married, and the other murdered person, investigator Zohrab Paronikyan, had two little children, as reported the deceased men’s relatives to Armenian News-NEWS.am.
“All the residents of the village are mourning the loss of the men and are shocked. Vahe had just come from Kazakhstan and was going to get married. He had two elder brothers who were married, one of which is at the police station. There are always fights, but there hadn’t been a fight like this in our village. As far as I know, Vahe and Zohrab were close friends,” one of the relatives said.
Touching upon the event that followed the shootings when, according to the regional governor, nearly 500 residents of Noratus village entered the hospital in Gavar, the relative said in Noratus, people always gather and help each other out when someone has a problem.
During a conversation with Armenian News-NEWS.am, acting Head of the Department of Information and Public Relations of the Investigative Committee of Armenia Rima Yeganyan said Zohrab Paronikyan had worked as a criminologist at the Ministry of Defense in 2013-14, started working at the 5th garrison of the Military Investigation Department of the Investigative Committee in 2014 and was a firstclass advisor.
Yesterday, young people of Gavar town and Noratus village were involved in a shooting in Gavar. As a result of the shootings, an investigator and resident of Noratus village received lethal firearm injuries. Another four citizens also received injuries. Two of them were transferred to a hospital in Yerevan, and the other two were transferred to a hospital in Gavar.
However, this was followed by a vendetta amid the presence of Chief of Police of Armenia Arman Sargsyan, and the police weren’t able to keep the situation under control. Persons with knives entered the hospital in Gavar, slit the throat of the two wounded persons at the hospital and beat one person. After that, they left the hospital, and the police weren’t able to prevent the crime and detain the criminals.
Preliminary investigation continues, and 15 people are detained under the case in regard to the shootings and the events that followed.
