Alleged Court Employee Charged with Attacking Cop

A criminal suit has been filed against an alleged employee of the Moscow prosecutor’s office who attacked a police officer with a crossbow, according to a press release by the Investigative Committee of the Prosecutor General of Russia on Tuesday.

A source in law enforcement told RIA Novosti that police had detained the approximately 26-year old Muscovite after a call from a neighbor complaining of hooliganism in a building on Samarkandsky Boulevard in Moscow. Although the incident occurred on the evening of December 5, the source did not report the incident until Tuesday.

When an officer arrived at the building, a man holding a crossbow opened the door and promised to “fire everyone.”

According to the press release, the man shot the officer with the crossbow at least once before he could be detained.

Upon search, the officer found documents identifying the man as an employee of the Moscow prosecutor’s office. The prosecutor’s office denies that the man is an employee. His name is currently being withheld.

The confiscated crossbow was found to be a piece of evidence in an unrelated criminal suit.

In light of a recently renewed wave of criticism on Russia’s law enforcement agencies, the possibility of abolishing the police force and starting from scratch has become a prominent topic of discussion in the Russian media. State Duma Deputy Andrei Makarov said as much at a recent press conference, and a movement to reform the Interior Ministry by former police major Aleksei Dymovsky has gained unprecedented media attention and support across the country.