Man shot by police at Brest protest dies in hospital at age 44

19 August 2020, 11:30 | TUT.BY
Gennadiy Shutov
Source: TUT.BY

Gennadiy Shutov, 44, died in a military hospital in Minsk, relatives told TUT.BY. Gennadiy was shot in the head on the 11th of August during a protest near the Moscow district administration in Brest.

Relatives heard from eyewitnesses that Gennadiy did not fight or otherwise engage in conflict, but simply walked by. People who spoke with the family of the deceased believe he was shot from a roof of a nearby building.

Gennadiy Shutov’s relatives were unable to find him for two days. They found out that he has been first sent to the Brest Regional Hospital and later airlifted to the military hospital in Minsk. Shutov’s daughter Lyudmila told TUT.BY that her father’s gunshot wound led to severe and widespread brain damage and the doctors gave no prognosis.

TUT.BY sources say that Mr. Shutov was transferred from Brest to Minsk while unconscious. He was diagnosed with an open penetrating gunshot wound to the skull, crushing contusion of the brain, and multipart fracture of the cranial vault with a transition to the base.

Gennadiy Shutov died in the hospital today, 19th August at 10.20 AM.

In the afternoon of the 19th of August, the Ministry of Health solemnly confirmed his death with the following words:

“In the evening of the 18th of August, the patient’s condition has rapidly deteriorated. Despite the doctors’ best efforts, the patient could not be saved”.

The Ministry of Internal Affairs reported that on the evening of the 11th of August, the police used live ammunition against the protesters. The police reported one injured person. It is unclear whether they were referring to Gennadiy Shutov.

The police specify that live ammunition was used in order to protect officers’ lives and health from “a group of aggressive citizens armed with rebar”, once the warning shots fired in the air had no effect.

From 9th to 11th of August, the emergency rooms and hospitals of Brest received over 100 patients with soft tissue trauma, leg and hand injuries, as well as injuries to the chest and abdomen. 23 people have been admitted to hospitals, some required surgeries.

Both the evening of the election day and the following day saw mass protests and police altercations take place in Brest.

Gennadiy is the third victim of the protests against the presidential election fraud in Belarus.

The first was Alexander Taraikovsky, who died on the 10th of August during the brutal dispersion of the protests by the law enforcement officers. The official cause of death is an open chest wound, Alexander died of blood loss. Previously, Ministry of Internal Affairs stated that Mr. Taraikovsky intended to throw a DIY bomb at the police, the device exploded in his hand, killing him. However, eyewitnesses report seeing no explosion in the man’s hands. Alexander was 34 years old, and is survived by his 3-year old daughter. Recently, people of Gomel buried Alexander Vikhor who died at age 25. The young man was detained in Gomel on the 9th of August while travelling to meet his girlfriend. Mr Vikhor’s relatives searched for him for multiple days, but to no avail. They visited the police precinct, stood vigil at the local detention centre. On the 12th of August, after receiving no information at a pre-trial detention centre, they turned to the police precinct to file a missing person report. Only then it was discovered that their son has been dead since 11th August.