SHOOTING INCIDENT WITH MIGRANT NEAR BULGARIA’S BORDER WITH TURKEY

On 15th of October, 30 km away from the Bulgarian-Turkish border near the town of Sredets, three Bulgarian border patrol officers came upon a group of 54 young men aged between 20-30, who crossed the border illegally.

The group of migrants did not obey the police orders and a police officer fired a warning shot. As a result of a bullet ricochet, one of the migrants was injured and  died on the way to the hospital .

The police officer who fired the shot is an officer with a long service, Ministry of Interior’s Chief Secretary, Georgi Kostov, said at a press conference on 16th of October. The rest of the migrants were detained. They said they were from Afghanistan.

A third inspection on the site of the incident is being carried out. Pre-court proceedings have been initiated.

At the press conference, the MoI Chief Secretary said that one of the police officer fired a shot. As a result of a ricochet, one of the migrants was injured and later died. The district prosecutor’s office in the city of Bourgas was immediately informed about the incident and an investigation was opened.

Kostov added there were no data for the time being as to whether the group of migrants were armed or not, but he noted that the proportion between the police and the migrants was 3 officers and   over 50 migrants. He said that the migrants, who were men, at an obvious age between 20-30, were in a very good physical shape and resisted detention.

He explained that the border patrol had responded to a signal from the integrated system, which had registered an intrusion.

Bourgas district prosecutor, Kalina Chapkanova said that the Prosecutor’s Office was immediately informed about the incident and the investigator on duty went to the scene. The Prosecutor-General, Sotir Tsatsarov, also had been informed.

Chapkanova said that the officer’s pistol and the clip had been confiscated. Examination identified that only one shot had been fired.

She explained that two inspections were carried out at the place of the incident and a third one will be carried out. None of the detained migrants had ID documents.

The prosecutor's office is looking into all possible versions, she added.

On hearing about the incident, Bulgaria’s Prime Minister, Boyko Borisov, who was at an EU summit in Brussels on the migrant crisis, left the meeting and flew back home late on 15^th of October.

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