21:10 Assailant neutralised
The man who held a child and teachers hostage has been neutralized and taken to hospital.
The Police held negotiations with the man, and managed to take the child out of the room safely.
“The man tried to harm himself, but we stopped him. Special means were used. He has been taken to hospital and is getting treatment,” Police Spokesman Ashot Aharonyan said in a Facebook post.
The hostage-taker appeared to be seeking a meeting with his ex-wife, who works at the pre-school.
20:53 Father thanks Police
Father of the child that was taken hostage at a kindergarten in Armavir has thanked Police for saving his son.
20:10 Child released, two women injured
The child taken hostage by a man in one of the kindergartens in the Armenian city of Armavir was freed and handed to father, after two shots were heard inside the building at 8:05 p.m.
The three-year-old boy had no obvious injuries, but was taken to hospital. Director of the kindergarten Roza Hovhannisyan and two teachers are still inside the building, two of them are injured.
“The most important is that we saved the child,” Armenia’s chief epidemiologist Ara Asoyan said as he came out of the building.
18:15 Child taken hostage in Armenia’s Armavir
A man armed with a knife has taken a child hostage at one of the kindergartens in Armenia’s Armavir.
Police say they received a call at 16:25. Policemen are at the site of the incident. Ambulances have also rushed to the scene, Public Radio’s correspondent Satik Isahakyan reports from Armavir.
There have been no reports of casualties.
Initial news reports indicated that the attacker had taken all children and teachers hostage.
The hostage-taker identified as Argam appeared to be driven by a personal motive. He’s thought to be the former son-in-law of the pre-school institution’s director.
