The Azerbaijan State Oil Academy shooting (Azerbaijani: Azərbaycan Dövlət Neft Akademiyasında terror hadisəsi) occurred on 30 April 2009, at the Azerbaijan State Oil Academy (ASOA), a public university in Baku, Azerbaijan. Twelve people were killed (students and staff members including the Deputy Principal of the institution) by an armed assailant and several others were wounded. A joint statement by the Azerbaijan Interior Ministry and Prosecutor General's Office identified the perpetrator as 28-year-old Farda Gadirov, a Georgian citizen of Azerbaijani descent.
Two buses of special forces had arrived at the scene. According to Ehsan Zahidov, a spokesman for Interior Ministry, the special troops conducted an operation while people reportedly having been 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.
Spree
Gadirov attacked the second building of the ASOA. First he killed a security guard and a cleaner as he entered the building, before opening fire on students and lecturers. Then 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. 12 people were killed and 13 wounded. Gadirov then fatally shot himself, when he saw the police were approaching. Police and paramedics soon arrived on the scene. The armed police cordoned off the building. All major routes to the university were blocked. Bodies were found all over the building. The injured were taken to ambulances stationed outside and evacuated to hospital. Most were soon in stable condition, but some were in critical condition and underwent surgery. All students were evacuated and sent home.
However doubts over several details were expressed. Azeri military expert Uzeyir Jafarov said it is quite obscure to him the inexperienced assailant could kill and injure so many persons with a Makarov pistol. Jafarov outlined, that Gadirov was not a military person, but a civilian.
Victims
According to Azeri Health Ministry, thirteen people were killed and ten wounded. Among wounded were two nationals of Sudan (Moustafa Mohammad, Amrouh Seyid Ahmad) and one of Syria (Daas Muawiya). Three of the wounded were discharged from hospital shortly after the shooting.
A total of thirteen people were killed in the incident: 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
The psychological aid was launched in Clinic Psychiatric Hospital #2, Neuropsychic Hospital and Children's Neuropsychic Hospital. One thousand candles are planned to light in front of the university building in memory of the victims. The blood donation took place in Azerbaijani regions at initiative of the Health Ministry. A donation, held in Saatli, involved 230 people.
Investigation
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. According to the spokesman for the Prosecutor General Eldar Sultanov, Shirhan Nadir oglu Aliyev, a fellow-villager of Gadirov, was detained as a suspect. The criminal case launched against Farda Gadirov was dropped because of his suicide. According to presidential order, direct financial assistances amounting to 30,000 manats were scheduled to be rendered to the families of killed persons, and 15,000 to the wounded from the president's reserve fund.