Perm Krai’s top investigative official found dead in suspected suicide

The Russian Investigative Committee’s Perm Krai Investigative Department Chief, Sergey Sarapultsev, was found dead in his apartment on Thursday, September 23. This was reported by the newspaper Kommersant, which cited several sources from various government agencies. 

An unnamed source told the state news agency TASS that Sarapultsev died by suicide. Also citing an anonymous source, Interfax reported that the suicide was motivated by family problems.

The Investigative Committee plans to conduct a check to establish the official cause of death.

On September 20, a gunman opened fire on a university campus in Perm, killing six people and injuring more than twenty others. According to the Telegram channel Baza, the Perm Krai’s Investigative Department held a meeting about the mass shooting on Thursday, shortly before Sarapultsev’s death. Allegedly, Baza was informed that “many local investigators were removed” from the investigation into the shooting following the meeting.