Latvia’s Minister of the Interior Māris Kučinskis has ordered Chief of State Police Armands Ruks to perform an internal affairs investigation over the fight that took place among teenagers in Imanta on Friday, the 5th of May.
The minister said he expects the investigation to reveal if the police had acted in accordance with regulations when responding to the call.
On Friday, the 5th of May, State Police received a call from a man in Imanta, who reported seeing multiple teenagers armed with knives at a school stadium.
State Police report that a Special Operations Battalion team was deployed to the scene because of the severity of the situation.
Police also received a call from a woman, who said she gave refuge to youngsters who were being chased by a group of other teenagers armed with knives.
After the ordeal the woman wrote on social networks that police had acted slowly. Because of this, according to her, one of the youngsters was caught and beaten up.
One of the attackers had also filmed the beating and then uploaded the footage on the internet. The whole story caused wide discussions among residents. Police also received condemnation for arriving too late.
According to the police, after receiving the calls, two police teams were deployed. After “a dozen or so minutes” representatives of the Special Operations Battalion were in the vicinity of the school. A little after that they came close to a forest area, looking for the youngsters. As for the woman that saved some of the boys that fled the attackers, State Police arrived there within 40 minutes.
The woman called the police again with an update of the situation. This information was later sent to the police officers on the ground.
After arriving at the woman’s apartment, the woman and the youngsters were interviewed. Then the police went with the boys to where the fight happened. They were later safely delivered to their parents. Police officers later joined the Special Operations Battalion near the forest area.
One of the attackers were held by one of the attacked boys’ father, who held on to the attacker until the police arrived. Police later identified the rest of the attackers, who are 13 years old. Police are working with the teenagers and their parents. Each person’s role and responsibility are being determined. Because none of the attackers are older than 14 years, they are not subject to criminal liability yet.
Police commenced criminal proceedings in accordance with the section of the Criminal Law on hooliganism committed by a group. The victim who was beaten by the attackers was sent for medical examination to determine the severity of his injuries.
The police initially reported that the conflict between the two groups of youngsters was a result of an inter-personal conflict.
After the 5th of May incident police reported there are no concerns about the attackers potentially targeting any residents of Imanta, because “this was a specific inter-personal conflict”. However, on the 7th of May State Police Riga Pārdaugava Department and Riga Special Operations Battalion were put on high alert, because there was a risk of new violent clashes happening. In the evening on Sunday, the 7th of May, police received information from residents about multiple locations in Imanta, where local youngsters were planning to or had already met and fought. The reason for these clashes was what happened on the 5th of May. According to entries on social networks, youngsters were planning a “lynching”.
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