Police officer killed in Kakheti shooting honoured with Medal for Special Merit
The law enforcement professional, who received fatal injuries as he used his body to shield another person as a retired military veteran went on a shooting spree from a balcony in the city of Sagarejo, has been awarded the first-degree medal of the Interior Ministry posthumously, days after his funeral with military honours. Photo: Government Administration
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Otar Gvinashvili, the 38-year-old police officer killed in line of duty during the deadly shooting in eastern Georgia’s Kakheti region last week, has been awarded with the Medal for Special Merit in recognition of his effort in sacrificing his life for saving a bystander during the incident.
The law enforcement professional, who received fatal injuries as he used his body to shield another person as a retired military veteran went on a shooting spree from a balcony in the city of Sagarejo, has been awarded the first-degree medal of the Interior Ministry posthumously, days after his funeral with military honours.
Photo: Ministry of Internal Affaires
Georgia’s Interior Minister Vakhtang Gomelauri, who was present at the funeral to pay his respects to the deceased officer, issued the decree for awarding Gvinashvili with the Medal, the Ministry of Internal Affairs said on Tuesday.
Gomelauri’s deputies and chiefs of units of the Ministry also paid honours to Gvinashvili, with a guard of honour also present in the civil ceremony on Tuesday.
Photo: Ministry of Internal Affaires
Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili and Government members paid their tribute to the law enforcement professional and extended condolences to his family members in the funeral.
Last week’s shooting saw five victims killed during the spree, before the shooter committed suicide as police stormed into his flat.
The police investigation into the incident is looking into the shooting with the articles of premeditated murder and illegal possession and keeping of firearms.
Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili on Monday paid a tribute to Otar Gvinashvili, the police officer killed during the shooting in the country's eastern Kakheti region on Friday, in a public funeral in Tbilisi.
Mamuka Otiashvili, the Director of Geo Hospitals Sagarejo Multiprofile Medical Centre on Saturday said two individuals, out of three wounded, were receiving medical treatment in the surgical department in the hospital and were in stable condition, and one remained on a breathing apparatus in the intensive care unit, after the deadly shooting incident in the eastern Kakheti region early on Friday that left six dead and five injured.
Georgian officials have sent their condolences over the deadly shooting incident in the eastern Kakheti region early on Friday that left six dead and five injured.
A retired military veteran killed five individuals, including a police officer, and injured another five in Georgia’s eastern Kakheti region before committing suicide, the country’s Interior Ministry said on Friday.