Russia Identifies Gunman In Moscow Shootoout

Russian authorities on Friday named the man who opened fire near the headquarters of the FSB security agency in central Moscow, killing two and wounding five, but gave no information as to his possible motive.

The Investigative Committee, which probes serious crimes, confirmed media reports that the attacker shot by security forces after the exchange of fire on Thursday was Yevgeny Manyurov from the Moscow region.

Media reports had said that the 39-year-old former security guard lived in the town of Podolsk, some 40 kilometres (25 miles) south of the capital.

Numerous channels on the Telegram messenger service published a photo of the dead gunman, a bearded man in glasses with his face bloodied, dressed in black with a wolf's head design on his sweatshirt.

The tabloid Komsomolskaya Pravda and Ren TV channel reported that the alleged shooter had an arsenal of seven guns that he owned legally, citing an investigator.

The FSB, a successor to the KGB, has given little information on the lone gunman who was shot dead after the attack on Bolshaya Lubyanka street outside the FSB's headquarters and close to a busy shopping area in the heart of the Russian capital.

The Investigative Committee said two officers from the security service were killed and five people, including one civilian, were being treated for injuries.

Moscow mayor Sergei Sobyanin wrote on Twitter that victims were receiving "all necessary medical treatment" and thanked the FSB for their quick reaction.

Russia has not said the shooting was terror-related and has opened a probe only into attacks on law enforcement officials.

The attacker took part in marksmanship competitions and an instructor at his gun club, Oleg Solovich, told Komsomolskaya Pravda he owned weapons legally but "shot badly" and never took off his dark hooded coat.

"He was normal to talk to," Solovich said, adding that he had been a certified gun owner for more than five years, and "that means the state had full confidence in him".

The paper interviewed the mother of the man, who said that he had been a security guard but had left a series of jobs.

She said he "used to talk on the phone to some Arabs," but that she did not understand their conversation in English.

The paper published a photograph of the modest five-storey block where the gunmen lived as investigators carried out a search there.

A neighbour told Ren TV Manyurov was "a good guy, quiet, calm and well-meaning."

Kommersant daily reported, citing the investigation, that Manyurov told his mother he was going to work on Thursday.

It reported that Manyurov had become withdrawn and irritable after losing his job a few months ago. It suggested he could have targeted the FSB because he had worked for security firms run by former security officers.

Kommersant said investigators were drawing up a psychiatric profile and the attacker could be ruled as "seriously disturbed".

The attack took place in the early evening as people were going home from work or sat in cafes.

Footage shot by passers-by showed people running in panic, and witnesses told AFP that they took shelter in cafe backrooms as shots rang out.

It was unclear whether the attack targeting the FSB had any ideological motive.

It came on the Day of Military Counter-Intelligence, a professional holiday, and on the eve of Friday's Day of Security Service.

At the time of the attack, President Vladimir Putin, a former head of the FSB and ex-KGB agent, was attending a celebratory event for security services. Hours earlier, he held a marathon annual press conference in central Moscow.

Russia has in the last few years been hit by a spate of attacks blamed on Islamic extremists, often hailing from the restive Northern Caucasus region.

Last year, a 17-year-old anarchist blew himself up at the entrance of regional FSB headquarters in the northern city of Arkhangelsk.