Latvian national killed in police shootout in Lithuania was suspected of murdering woman and young man in Riga's Plavnieki

RIGA - Viktors Konopelkins, a Latvian citizen who was involved in a shootout with the police in Lithuania today and later died, is suspected of murdering a woman and a young man in Riga's Plavnieki neighborhood this week, LETA has learned.

The State Police said in a press release that in the afternoon of July 9, the police received a call about two that two dead bodies found in an apartment in Plavnieki. A young man and his mother had been shot dead.

The police determined that the murders had been committed the previous day, July 8.

The police established the identity of the suspected perpetrator and the vehicle in which he was traveling. It was also determined that he had left Latvia in an automobile, and both national and international search measures were launched, and all member countries of the European Union were notified.

The Lithuanian police spotted the automobile today, they started pursuing the vehicle, then shots were fired.

According to the Latvian police, the perpetrator fired several shots at Lithuanian police officers. No officers were injured, but during the shootout the fleeing man's automobile caught fire and the occupant was killed. One police car also burnt down.

The deceased sustained serious injuries and forensic tests will be carried out to verify his identity. However, according to preliminary findings he is the man wanted by the police on suspicion of double murder in Latvia.

Konopelkins has a criminal record but he had no run-ins with the police during the last ten years.

The investigation is ongoing and the Latvian police will not comment further at this time.

As reported, a shootout took place in Lithuania's southern district of Alytus on Thursday, and the body of a suspect was found near the scene of the incident.

According to the Alytus County Police Headquarters, a report was received at around 10 a.m. that a Porsche car had illegally crossed the Lithuanian-Polish state border near Lazdijai.

According to preliminary data, the vehicle was driven by Latvian citizen Viktors Konopelkins, born in 1964, suspected of committing serious crimes and possibly armed.

During the chase, a shootout occurred in the district of Alytus near the village of Poteronys.

According to Kristina Januleviciene, spokeswoman of the Alytus County Police Headquarters, a police car caught fire during the shootout.

No police officers were injured during the shootout, she added.

The police initially reported that the suspect might have fled the scene and was in hiding, but officers reported in the afternoon that the suspect's body had been found near the scene.