Editor’s note: This is a developing story and will be updated upon receiving new information
Parakar Mayor Volodya Grigoryan and an off-duty police officer have been shot dead by a masked suspect in an attack that also led to the wounding of one other person.
The murders of Grigoryan and his friend, Karen Abrahamyan, a Criminal Police officer, took place on Tuesday night. Abrahamyan was off-duty at the time of his murder.
The Armenian authorities have identified the wounded person as Artsun Galstyan, saying his condition was stable but serious. He has yet to be questioned due to his health condition. However, other witnesses have already been interviewed by the police.
According to preliminary information, a masked gunman, wearing gloves, approached the victims while the three of them were standing on the street and opened fire.
Interior Ministry spokesperson Narek Sargsyan told the Public TV that the three victims left a house and stood immediately in front of the gate, talking for a few seconds, before being shot at.
CCTV footage showing the attack and published by News.am shows the three victims standing in an alleyway, with the assailant firing at from a distance. The victims, realising they were being shot at, are seen attempting to flee from the attacker, who is then seen rushing at them. After all three victims fall to the ground, the attacker is seen firing multiple times at one of the victims — presumably Grigoryan — whom he appears to check for life signs at least twice before fleeing the scene of the crime.
The authorities believe that 18 shots were fired during the attack.
According to News.am, the incident took place in front of Grigoryan’s house. Sargsyan noted that the building ‘is under construction and renovation’ and no one lived there.
Sargsyan also stated during a press briefing earlier on Wednesday that ‘hundreds of police officers’ were working at the crime scene amidst a nationwide search for the suspect.
‘All border checkpoints are being monitored, CCTV footage is being reviewed, multiple individuals have been questioned, and other investigative actions are underway to identify and apprehend the suspected gunman’, Armenpress reported.
There is a ‘heavy police presence’ at the murder scene, with authorities deploying drones and K9 units to assist in the search. Interior Minister Arpine Sargsyan was announced to have been personally supervising the investigation.
‘A brazen armed attack’
The murder has been condemned by the authorities, while the opposition points at the authorities fault in the tragic incident.
In a Facebook post, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan called on law enforcement agencies to identify everyone behind the ‘brazen armed attack’.
‘A detailed study must also be conducted into what preventative measures should have been taken in Parakar to prevent this series of violent incidents — who was responsible for carrying them out, and why they failed to do so. Necessary conclusions will be drawn from this investigation’, Pashinyan wrote.
In turn, Armenian Human Rights Defender Anahit Manasyan, ‘strongly condemned’ the incident, noting that ‘such grave crimes undermine public safety and endanger the guarantees of the rule of law’.
Manasyan underscored that the state ‘must have proper mechanisms to prevent such incidents and must continuously improve them’.
‘This is not only a tragedy for the community and the state, but also evidence that the law enforcement system does not have control over the situation, that it is preoccupied with fulfilling political orders’, opposition MP Taguhi Tovmasyan wrote in a Facebook post.
At the same time, the head of Country to Live party, Mane Tandilayn, told RFE/RL that their party member was killed ‘as a result of police inaction’.
Grigoryan was elected mayor of Parakar in April 2025 as a candidate of the Miasnutyun (Unity) alliance. Snap elections were held after former Mayor Ludwig Gyulnazaryan, a member of the ruling Civil Contract party, resigned following another fatal shooting in the Parakar community in February.
The incident took place in Merdzavan, a village in the community, where a relative of the village’s head was shot dead and another person was injured.
Grigoryan’s brother, Paykar Grigoryan, was arrested as part of the investigation into the Merdzavan murder, according to News.am.
Local media has speculated that these two murders might be interconnected.
