A drunken soldier fired about 70 shots into the car in which the father and his daughter were riding. This means that he has almost emptied three magazines. Fortunately, after he fired the first shot into the air, the girl was able to escape the car and the bullets only hit an empty seat. The prosecution has no suspicion of attempted murder. How can this happen?
The detained soldier was sober in police custody for about a day before he was taken for questioning.
– The soldier of the working group Mielnik, who was carrying out the task as part of the “Safe Podlasie” operation, left the area of the group with his service weapon, – says the spokesman of this operation, lieutenant colonel Kamil Doljka.
The weapon was a Grot carbine. Its magazine contains 30 rounds. The soldier fired more than 60 shots.
A hair’s breadth away from tragedy
The trooper attempted to stop a civilian Golf, which the driver was driving with his 13-year-old daughter. The terrified girl managed to avoid being hit by a bullet. The attacker tried to escape, but other soldiers stopped him. He had about two parts per million of alcohol in his body.
– The prosecutor’s office of the Bialystok-Polnok district, the military department, started investigating the murder attempt. The decision to file an indictment was made. There are several allegations, – says Petr Antony Skiba, the spokesman of the Warsaw district prosecutor’s office.
These are criminal threats, abuse of authority and attempted murder, which are punishable by life imprisonment. The Minister of National Defense announced on social networks that this soldier will be dismissed from service.
The suspect is 25 years old. Since April of last year, he has been serving in the 5th Podhale Rifle Battalion located in Przemyśl. A month ago, he joined the soldiers guarding the Belarusian border.
– According to the order, they were provided with service weapons. They have these weapons 24 hours a day, of course, along with ammunition, says Dr. Pavel Bala, a lawyer.
“The Sad Truth”
The rotation of soldiers lasts from three weeks to three months. After every 12 hours of service, they have one day off, but even then they are barracks. They are not allowed to drink alcohol. They can leave the camps in civilian clothes and without weapons for a short time so as not to scare the residents.
– After yesterday’s incident, it’s hard for me to imagine that we can go out on the streets normally – explains Marcin Urbanski, the mayor of the Mielnik commune.
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Soldiers on missions are never separated from their weapons – this is normal in the NATO military. Experts see the problem elsewhere.
– Politicians create truly huge plans to strengthen state security. Unfortunately, these plans face a sad reality. So, in addition to equipment, we need the so-called human material, – says Zbigniew Schwierczek, shooting instructor and former anti-terrorist police.
The army has been guarding the border with Belarus for more than three years. 17,000 soldiers are participating in the Podlasie operation.
Main photo source: TVN24
