Farda Gadirov

Case record: Farda Gadirov

Overview

Farda Gadirov (also given as Farda Asad oglu Gadirov; Azeri: Fərda Qədirov; Georgian: ფარდა გადიროვი; born December 8, 1980 – April 30, 2009) was a Georgian spree killer of Azerbaijani descent who carried out a university rampage.

On April 30, 2009, he attacked the Azerbaijan State Oil Academy (ASOA), a public university in Baku. Twelve people were killed and several others were wounded. Gadirov then shot himself.

Timeline

• April 30, 2009 — The Azerbaijan State Oil Academy shooting occurred at the Azerbaijan State Oil Academy (ASOA) in Baku; 12 people were killed and 13 wounded, and Gadirov committed suicide by shooting himself the same day.
• April 21, 2010 — A court hearing was scheduled for Mardun Gumashyan.

The offence

Gadirov attacked the second building of the Azerbaijan State Oil Academy.

He killed a security guard and a cleaner as he entered the building, before opening fire on students and lecturers. While climbing from the first floor to the sixth, he shot people indiscriminately, mainly in the head along the way. A witness said one student had tried to stop him but was also shot in the head. Another witness reported seeing two gunmen. Terrorism was suspected.

The gunman barricaded himself in the Academy and police cordoned off the building. All major routes to the university were blocked. Bodies were found all over the building. Injured people were taken to ambulances stationed outside and evacuated to hospital; most were soon in stable condition, but some were in critical condition and undergoing surgery. All students were evacuated and sent home.

People involved

Perpetrator

• Farda Gadirov, 28 (gunman). He shot himself after seeing the police were approaching. Police and paramedics soon arrived on the scene.

Victims (killed)

A total of twelve people were described as killed, with an additional breakdown also given as thirteen killed.

The killed individuals were:

• Emin Abdullayev, 20, student
• Ramiz Abdullayev, 69, Deputy Principal of ASOA and Chairman of the Faculty of Oil and Gas Production
• Jeyhun Aslanov, 21, student
• Tamella Azizova, 58, lecturer and researcher
• Ruslan Babashov, 19, student
• Ayaz Baghirov, 21, student
• Yusif Bandaliyev, 20, student
• Ayna Gurbanova, 52, cafeteria worker
• Savalan Jabbarov, 22, student
• Taleh Mammadov, 21, student
• Shafa Mammadova, 31, laboratory assistant
• Majnun Vahidov, 63, associate professor, playwright and chess composer
• Farda Gadirov, 28, gunman

Wounded

The incident produced 13 wounded in one account, and 10 wounded in another account attributed to the Azeri Health Ministry.

• One account stated 13 wounded.
• Azeri Health Ministry stated ten wounded and thirteen people were killed.

Named wounded included:

• Moustafa Mohammad, Sudan
• Amrouh Seyid Ahmad, Sudan
• Daas Muawiya, Syria

Three of the wounded were discharged from hospital shortly after the shooting.

Investigation and operational response

A joint statement by the Azerbaijan Interior Ministry and Prosecutor General's Office identified the perpetrator as 29-year-old Farda Gadirov, a Georgian citizen of Azerbaijani descent.

During an investigation by Prosecutor General of Azerbaijan, the involvement of Georgian citizen of Armenian descent Mardun Gumashyan was published and he was wanted by Interpol. Two buses of special forces arrived at the scene. Interior Ministry spokesman Ehsan Zahidov said special troops conducted an operation and people reportedly held hostage were released.

Three cartridge belts with capacity of forty and seventy one bullets along with two magazines were taken from Gadirov's body.

An Azeri military expert Uzeyir Jafarov said it was obscure to him that the inexperienced assailant could kill and injure so many persons with a Makarov pistol. Jafarov also said that Gadirov was not a military person but a civilian.

Suspects and criminal case

The criminal case was launched under:

• article 120.2.2 (deliberate murder committed from hooligan prompting)
• 120.2.4 (deliberate murder committed with special cruelty or endangering the public)
• 120.2.7 (deliberate murder of two or more persons)
• article 29 (attempt to murder)
• article 228.1 (illegal purchase, transfer, selling, storage, transportation or carrying of fire-arms, accessories to it, supplies (except for the smooth-bore hunting weapon and ammunition to it), explosives) of the Criminal Code of Azerbaijan

Prosecutor General spokesman Eldar Sultanov said that Shirhan Nadir oglu Aliyev, described as a fellow-villager of Gadirov, was detained as a suspect.

The criminal case launched against Farda Gadirov was dropped because of his suicide.

Psychological aid

The psychological aid was launched in Clinic Psychiatric Hospital #2, Neuropsychic Hospital, and Children’s Neuropsychic Hospital.

Charges and alleged mastermind: Mardun Gumashyan

A Georgian citizen of Armenian origin, Mardun Gumashyan, was charged as the mastermind of the shooting and was wanted by Interpol.

The indictment stated that Gumashyan was born in Georgian region of Marneuli in 1951. It said he founded a criminal group embracing:

• Farda Gadirov
• Javidan Amirov
• Nadir Aliyev
• Najaf Suleymanov

The indictment stated that Gumashyan struck a bargain with them to commit a terrorist attack, offered $50,000, paid $5,000 to Gadirov, who purchased a pistol and practiced to shoot.

The terrorist group arrived in Baku in March 2009, and the court hearing was scheduled for April 21, 2010.

Aftermath

Financial assistance

According to presidential order, direct financial assistance amounting to 30,000 manats was scheduled for the families of killed persons, and 15,000 manats was scheduled for the wounded from the president’s reserve fund.

Memorials and community response

One thousand candles were planned to be lit in front of the university building in memory of the victims.

Blood donation took place in Azerbaijani regions at initiative of the Health Ministry. A donation held in Saatli involved 230 people.

A morning ceremony began on Friday. The MPs, professors and students of ASOA, as well as students of other country's universities, and members of youth organizations attended. The participants laid red carnations and lit candles at the entrance and stairs of the Academy. The Irali Public Union joined the event with the slogan “No terror!”.

Roughly 2,000 students marched in Baku that day. A mourning procession was also held by Azeri Americans in Washington.

Security and legislative statements

Rabiyyat Aslanova, chair of the parliament's Standing Human Rights Commission, said that security must be increased in postsecondary institutions, but there was no need to amend any law to increase security in them:

• “Higher schools have own regulations. The issue must be solved under the regulations”

MP Fazil Mustafa said that it was impossible to check everybody, but serious dangers could be prevented.

Other details

Gadirov was described as spending most of his life in Podolsk, Russia, after his uncle invited him to help him in business but, for unknown reasons, he returned to Baku. An official from his home village, Vidadi Hasanov, described Gadirov as an unsociable child who rarely left his home during his brief return.

On April 30, 2009, Gadirov arrived at ASOA in Baku and opened fire on students within the second building, killing thirteen people and wounding ten other people before turning his gun on himself and committing suicide, according to witnesses, authorities, and the autopsy report.