3 killed in Moscow court shootout

Clashes broke out in the Moscow Regional Court on Tuesday, leaving three defendants dead and five others wounded, officials said.

The incident happened when five defendants facing murder charges were taken to the court in the Moscow suburb of Krasnogors, a spokeswoman for the Moscow regional police said.

According to preliminary investigation, the defendants attempted to disarm the guards in an elevator, but three of them were killed and two wounded in the shootout that followed, Xinhua news agency reported.

The guards managed to call for reinforcements and clashed with the defendants, during which three law enforcement officers were wounded.

The Russian media reported earlier that the defendants were members of the so-called GTA gang, a group comprising members from Central Asian countries suspected of murdering several people in the Moscow region.

--IANS

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