Hooligan shoots Guardia fighter with traumatic pistol, sparking police conflict
On the night of 2 January 2026, a drunk Novosibirsk resident with a traumatic pistol in his hands fired twice at a Guardia fighter and seriously injured his arm. The security guards themselves tracked down their colleague«s offender and handed him over to the police, but they simply let him go home. The private security company employees are perplexed why a criminal case has not been initiated yet, while police assure: they are acting strictly according to the law. NGS listened to both versions and found out who shot at Guardia.
The Night After New Year
The events that led to the conflict between the police and the security company began three weeks ago, on the night of 2 January 2026, and at first looked like a routine incident for Novosibirsk.
At half past four in the morning, an alarm went off in a 24-hour store identifying itself as a bar. Employees of the security company «Guardia Security Agency» (commonly referred to as Guardia) responded to the call, but they failed to calm the rowdy guest peacefully. The disturber of the public peace opened fire on Guardia, wounded one of the fighters in the arm, and fled.
According to the Rusprofile service, the company «Guardia Security Agency» was registered in Novosibirsk in 2014, its main activity is security services, including private ones. The sole owner and director of the company is Vyacheslav Zhirkov. The financial results of the security enterprise are unknown: according to Rusprofile, in recent years Guardia reported zero revenue and profit.
He was caught only a week later and taken to the Oktyabrsky police department, where he was questioned and released home without initiating a criminal case. The material from the check on the events of 2 January is lying on the desk of the local police officer.
This ends the meager set of facts provided by both the police and Guardia employees. Law enforcement officers and the security company fighters have completely different views on what exactly the drunk shooter did that night and why he is still walking the streets.
«My Arm Won»t Bend, I Can«t Feel My Fingers»
On the first night after New Year, a crew consisting of two people went to Guryevskaya Street (where the bar-store is located): a driver and his partner Yuri (the victim«s name has been changed, real data known to NGS editorial). The call was routine: a guy drank too much and was causing trouble. It turned out that the hooligan was armed and, according to other participants in the conflict, had already opened fire on an opponent, although he missed. Seeing the approaching Guardia car, he ran away so fast that they had to drive and search for him.
«He was hiding nearby, behind a closed kiosk. I got out of the car, wanted to approach him quietly, but he saw me and pointed his weapon at me. And I only have a baton and pepper spray as special means,» Yuri said. «My partner drove up from the other side in the car and distracted him, I tried to run up and take the weapon, we fell together, and at that moment he fired two shots. One hit the belt, which tore because of it—if it weren»t for that, it would have been a serious wound. The second shot hit my arm.«
He couldn«t hold the shooter with his injured arm, but he didn»t immediately realize how serious the injury was. First, Yuri said, his partner noticed blood dripping from his sleeve. Then the man himself felt dizzy. And already at the medical institution, it became clear that the bullet fired from the traumatic pistol had damaged his nerve.
«That the skin is damaged—it»s painful, but in general it«s nonsense, it heals. The problem is that I can»t fully bend my arm, and I can«t feel my ring finger and little finger at all,» complained the Guardia employee.
Now the man is on sick leave and can provide medical documents to both the police and journalists no earlier than when the treatment ends, but doctors gave Yuri no exact prognosis. They say, if he«s lucky, in a month or a month and a half his arm will recover, but treatment could drag on for six months. Whether the man can continue working in security if the sensitivity and mobility of his arm do not return is an open question.
Information about the criminal injury was passed to the police by the medics, and Yuri himself additionally wrote a statement, asking to bring the nighttime brawler to criminal responsibility for armed hooliganism. He did this on 10 January, when the alleged shooter was delivered to the police department.
«As far as I know, he was detained by employees of Guardia Security Agency. They called the police, and patrol service officers delivered this person to the Oktyabrsky police department,» Dmitry Shitov, a lawyer representing the security guards« interests, told NGS. »On 10 January, Saturday, Guardia employees contacted us and said that they wanted to release this person. When I arrived, employees of the Oktyabrsky police department stated that the material is with the local police officer, and from him (the alleged shooter—Ed.) we will now take a written undertaking. At the same time, a traumatic pistol and a cold weapon were found on the person.«
According to Dmitry Shitov, the lawyers tried to call the Ministry of Internal Affairs hotline and called the duty prosecutor, telling them that the police were going to release a person who is undoubtedly dangerous. This brought no results. As soon as he and his colleague left the police department, the alleged shooter also went home.
«According to our information, he has an unexpunged criminal record under Articles 222 and 223 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (for illegal storage and manufacture of weapons—Ed.),» the lawyer described the behavior of the caught hooligan. «What happened is hooliganism with the use of weapons, a serious crime. The Oktyabrsky police department simply dumped this material on the local police officer—for more than a week, nothing has been done on this material.»
«Chased Him Like a Rabbit»
In the press service of the Main Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia for Novosibirsk Region, the nighttime shooting on 2 January and the subsequent stalled investigation into it were commented on restrainedly, and they did not even address accusations of delay in the check material.
«Regarding this fact, a check is being conducted in the police department within the framework of current legislation. Police officers are establishing all the circumstances of what happened. At the moment, the victim is undergoing treatment,» reported the regional head office of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. «After this, a forensic medical examination will be appointed, and based on its results, a procedural decision will be made.»
Translated from legal language to Russian, this means that investigators or inquiry officers of the police cannot initiate a criminal case until they find out how seriously Yuri was injured, and this will only be clear after the treatment of the guardsman ends.
As a source familiar with the course of the investigation told NGS, despite the seized weapons (a traumatic pistol, a knife, and a knuckleduster), the police who spoke with the shooter did not consider that he fired, expressing disrespect for society.
«When Guardia arrived at the object, this guy had already calmed down. The guardsmen started to act tough, he tried to run away from them, and they chased him through the streets in a car, like a rabbit,» the interlocutor presented the police«s view of the situation. »When the guy was brought to the department, he admitted everything about the events, but explained that he fired because he was scared. As for «hooliganism,» the guys wanted to initiate it, but the prosecutor did not approve Article 213: it was night, the streets were empty, there were no witnesses. How can you clearly not respect society if it«s not around?»
According to the source, without a criminal case, there was nothing to detain the man for, so he was released. At the same time, suspicions of causing bodily harm to Yuri were not lifted from him: as soon as medical experts say how seriously the security guard was injured, the materials will be transferred to an inquiry officer or investigator.
Who Shot at Guardia
NGS learned the name of the alleged shooter: it turned out to be 21-year-old Novosibirsk resident Alexey N. It was not possible to find out when and under what article he was convicted from official sources (the corresponding section on court websites was not working). But according to the official service «Find Out About Your Debts,» Alexey N. or his full namesake, born on the same day, must pay 100,000 rubles (approximately $1,100 at current rates) as an additional punishment in a criminal case.
«Calling him some particularly dangerous person is not very correct. Just a marginal personality: lives in a barracks, drinks, takes microloans,» NGS«s source presented his view on the alleged shooter.
NGS tried to contact Alexey to hear his point of view on the conflict. The young man who answered the journalist first greeted, but upon hearing who was calling and why, stated that he was not Alexey at all.
It was not possible to find out why he shot at the guardsmen.
Last year, Guardia Security Agency fighters already got into a criminal story. Security guards came to calm down a drunk and possibly armed company in a hookah lounge. As a result, they themselves were put on trial for exceeding authority, although they did not agree with the charges.
