04 September 2026, 12:15
In the Odesa region, a stepfather shot and killed a 5-year-old boy with a rifle
Ця стаття також доступна українською
PHOTO: Odesa Regional National Police
In the Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi District, a man shot a 5-year-old boy in the head with an air rifle and then tried to cover it up. But the autopsy revealed the truth.
According to the press service of the Odesa Regional Police, the court ordered the man to be held in custody without the possibility of bail.
A few days ago, doctors contacted the police to report that a child had been hospitalized in critical condition.
The boy’s mother said her son had been injured in the yard while playing with his younger sister. The child later died in the hospital.
During the autopsy, a pellet from an air gun was found in the boy’s head. According to preliminary findings, this was the cause of death.
Investigators determined that the 29-year-old live-in partner of the boy’s mother was involved in the child’s death.
According to police, the man was with the five-year-old boy and a three-year-old girl on the outskirts of the village, where he was shooting an air rifle. While shooting, he aimed the weapon at the boy and shot him in the head.
Afterward, the man brought the children home and told the mother that her son had injured himself by falling off a ladder.
During an examination of the crime scene and a search of the family’s home, investigators seized the rifle and other physical evidence. The items were sent for forensic analysis.
The police detained the man and informed him that he is suspected of the intentional murder of a minor child.
As previously reported by Intent, near Balta in the Podilskyi District, an employee of the district’s Territorial Center for Civil Protection and Emergency Situations struck a young child with his vehicle while conducting a mobilization drill and fled the scene of the accident. The 2-year-old boy was hospitalized with injuries.
The Odesa Regional Territorial Center for Civil Protection and Emergency Situations also responded to reports of the traffic accident.
