In the tragedy that occurred in February this year in Plavnieki, where two boys died due to careless weapon storage, a personal weapon of an adult was used, and the children were alone at the time of the incident, said Igor Jaunrodziņš, head of the Internal Security Service (ISS), in an interview for the Latvian Television program “Morning Panorama,” LETA reports.
According to Jaunrodziņš, this was a personal legally registered weapon of an adult, which was stored carelessly and in violation of regulations.
“It's important to note that during the investigation it was ruled out that anyone else was present in the apartment. There were only two children there,” he explained.
“As a result of one child's actions, the second child died, and then he did what he did,” added the head of the Internal Security Service (ISS).
He emphasized that now is the time to review weapon storage skills and eliminate any possible shortcomings.
As previously reported, on February 7, 2025, the bodies of two boys born in 2012 were found in an apartment in a multi-apartment building in Plavnieki, with gunshot wounds.
LETA agency found out that one of the boys accidentally shot the other with his father's gun — an employee of the Office of Citizenship and Migration Affairs (OCMA) — and then shot himself in the head.
The prosecutor's office reported that charges have been brought against the weapon owner under two articles of the Criminal Law — for the illegal storage of firearms, their components, and ammunition that led to serious consequences, as well as for storing ammunition without the appropriate permit.
As clarified by the prosecutor's office, the accused had a permit for the storage of weapons and ammunition; however, two bullets intended for another weapon were found, the storage of which was not permitted.
The prosecutor's office indicates that the accused, being aware of the safety requirements established by the Law on the Circulation of Weapons and Cabinet of Ministers regulations, violated these norms by leaving the keys to the safe in the apartment, the storage location of which could not be precisely established during the investigation. Thus, he did not ensure that other individuals could not access the safe. As a result, the keys became accessible to minors — his son and a classmate, who reached the ammunition and weapon, took it, and began to examine it.
During the preliminary investigation, it was established that one of the boys, handling the weapon carelessly, shot towards his classmate, after which he pointed the gun at his own forehead and fired, resulting in the deaths of both children, the prosecutor's office explained.
Before the case was handed over to the prosecutor's office, the Internal Security Service conducted the investigation.
Earlier, the ISS reported that as part of the case, extensive work was carried out in conjunction with the supervising prosecutor to gather evidence and establish the factual circumstances of the incident, including several complex and lengthy examinations. Initially, the circumstances of the incident were unclear, but during the investigation, the investigators reconstructed the events of the day and the circumstances of the children's deaths.
Upon completion of the investigation, it was decided to terminate the criminal proceedings regarding the cause of death, as “the circumstances were established that exclude the initiation of criminal proceedings,” — for example, that the person subject to prosecution had died.
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