Karate Champion Kills Dog-Walker in Dispute
Published: August 1, 2012 (Issue # 1720)
A man was killed in the Krasnoselsky district of the city last week after a conflict arose over his dog.
On the morning of July 25, Sergei Dorin was walking his Staffordshire Terrier — a breed historically used for fighting — when Ruslan Merzlyakov, who was passing by with his six-year-old son, reprimanded him for walking his dog without a muzzle, saying that the dog could pose a threat to other people, Fontanka.ru reported.
In this case, however, the dog owner turned out to be more dangerous than the dog: Dorin took out a TT pistol and shot at his interlocutor.
The bullet narrowly missed both Merzlyakov and his son.
Merzlyakov, a Leningrad Oblast karate champion, knocked his opponent to the floor, as a result of which the 42-year-old Dorin died soon afterwards of his injuries.
The police are now investigating whether the incident is to be qualified as criminal case. Merzlyakov called the police himself, but it is still to be determined whether the killing falls under self-defense and whether he acted on impulse.
The dog owner had already been charged twice with weapons trafficking. A search of his apartment after the incident revealed 49 pistol bullets and a grenade.
The dog fled during the shooting and has not been seen since.