Police have detained a suspect in the shooting death of Sergiyev Posad's mayor in August and believe he was driven by a desire for fame, the Moscow region police chief said Sunday.
Mayor Yevgeny Dushko, 35, was struck with several bullets on Aug. 20 near his home in the town of Sergiyev Posad, a popular tourist destination just 60 kilometers north of Moscow, where he was elected mayor in April. Dushko died in the hospital.
“We've got a suspect … He is ready to make a confession, but only in the presence of the media,” police chief Nikolai Golovkin said, Interfax reported.
“He wants to get publicity and become a hero,” Golovkin said, adding that the police had enough evidence to confirm his guilt.
Investigators earlier speculated that Dushko's murder might be linked to his political ambitions or his former business activities.
Golovkin said the suspect, whose name has not been disclosed, was detained in connection with a separate investigation, and police were checking his possible involvement in several “gross crimes” in the Moscow region. Golovkin did not elaborate.
Despite Golovkin's announcement, the investigation is ongoing and the police are looking for additional suspects in the case, Interfax reported.
Confusingly, the Investigative Committee, a separate enforcement agency in charge of the inquiry, denied Golovkin's comments Sunday. "There is not any suspect in the case," said committee spokesman Vladimir Markin, Interfax reported.
Sergiyev Posad is most famous for being home to the Trinity Lavra of St. Sergius, the largest monastery in Russia and the official residence of the Russian Orthodox patriarch since 1983.
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