Moscow lawyer who killed 6 colleagues to stand trial

USPA News - A lawyer who went on a shooting rampage at a pharmaceutical firm in the Russian capital of Moscow last year will soon stand trial, prosecutors said on Wednesday. The gunman has since apologized but said he had "no other choice" because of his belief that all human life should be destroyed.

The shootings happened on November 7, 2012, when 30-year-old Dmitry Vinogradov entered the Moscow office building of the pharmaceutical company where he was employed. CCTV images showed Vinogradov calmly walking through the building`s security checkpoint and later arming himself with two semi-automatic assault rifles. Vinogradov had shown up for work while wearing a full suit of camouflage, but his colleagues assumed it was part of an elaborate joke. He later armed himself and opened fire at four colleagues who were sitting at their desks, killing two men and two women. On the stairs leading to the office, Vinogradov opened fire at other colleagues, killing one man and critically injuring a woman. The gunman, who later said he had planned to kill himself but was prevented from doing so, was soon taken into custody by the building`s security staff. Vladimir Markin, a spokesman for Russia`s Investigative Committee, said prosecutors have finished their criminal case against Vinogradov and a trial is expected to begin soon. "Investigators have gathered enough evidence [and], accordingly, the case with the approved indictment has been forwarded to court to be tried on the merits," he said. The gunman, who worked as a lawyer for the pharmaceutical firm, faces multiple murder and attempted murder charges in addition to a charge of making public calls for extremism. Vinogradov, during his initial court appearance after the shootings, admitted to carrying out the killings and apologized, but said he had "no other choice." Authorities believe the massacre was carried out after a woman broke off her romantic relationship with Vinogradov in January 2012, and the man`s efforts to get back together with her were unsuccessful. He told police he had been drinking excessively for five days before opening fire on November 7. Vinogradov also left a shocking letter on the European social networking website VKontakte hours before the shooting spree. In the manifesto, the man expressed his hatred of humanity and said all human life should be destroyed, saying that there are not enough wars and diseases to do this. "I am sure that I have good reason to believe all of humanity is cancer living on this planet," the letter, titled "My Manifesto," said. "Already in 2011 the world population reached seven billion, and this is despite the fact that current consumption rates already exhausted the Earth`s resources." The manifesto added: "I hate the human society, and I hate to be a part of it, I hate the futility of human life, I hate this very life, I see only one way to justify it: to destroy as many particles of human compost as possible. ... Understand that you are not wanted here, you are the genetic garbage that is here on Earth because of an error in the evolution. You are trash that needs to be destroyed."