Buyer deploys weapon in conflict with mall security
A conflict involving pepper spray and a pistol-like object occurred on January 21 at the City Mall in St. Petersburg. The buyer was suspected of theft.
Jan 28, 2026 0
The incident unfolded around 7:30 PM on January 21 at the exit of a supermarket in the City Mall shopping center, located at 17/2 Kolomyazhsky Prospekt in the Primorsky District of St. Petersburg.
The altercation involved a shopper using pepper spray and an object resembling a firearm against security guards.
According to witness testimonies provided to Fontanka, security suspected the man of theft and blocked his path. «The guy tried to run away because security blocked the passage, then a blow followed, but it wasn»t clear who exactly struck him. Then he produced a weapon and pepper spray and doused the guards, after which they tackled him. There were three guards on the scene in total,« an eyewitness described the situation.
During the scuffle, one of the guards demanded from the buyer: «Return the goods.» The man himself shouted: «People, help, I»m suffocating.« The witness left the scene before the police and ambulance arrived.
According to a number of media outlets, after a blow delivered by one of the security staff, the young man stopped showing signs of life. Arriving medics placed him on a stretcher and hospitalized him.
The publication Fontanka also reports that physical force was likely applied to the visitor by employees of the private security agency AN-Security.
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