Odesa police storming building where gunman opened fire - Ukrainian national police chief

18:51, 19.01.2018 1 min read

Law enforcers are continuing a special operation in Odesa after a shootout as a result of which three officers were injured and a gunman killed, Ukraine's national police chief Serhiy Kniazev said.

"At 3.30 p.m. criminal investigation officers in Odesa were apprehending a wanted criminal who offered armed resistance, injuring three policemen. When a police patrol team arrived to the rescue and exchanged fire with the criminal, the gunman was rendered safe," Kniazev wrote on his Facebook page.

Currently the operation continues, he said. "Police are storming the premises where the criminal had been hiding and which lead directly to the Odesa catacombs," Kniazev said.

Medics are fighting for the officers' lives.

Odesa police chief Ruslan Forostiak said earlier that three officers had been injured during a skirmish with a gunman with the city center. One of the injured was in critical condition, the criminal had been killed, Forostiak said.