Gunman gets 24 years in prison for killing National Guard officer

A court in Russia’s Dagestan has sentenced a gunman, who killed a National Guard officer, to 24 years behind bars, Investigative Committee Spokeswoman Svetlana Petrenko said.

Artur Bekbolatov, a member of an illegal armed group, had been trained to carry out a terrorist act, the court said. On July 10, 2016 Bekbolatov and other members of the gang attacked a National Guard member Magomed Nurbagandov in a forest near Sergokal, in southern Dagestan, TASS recalls.

Nurbagandov was held at gun point by the gunmen but he told his colleagues to "keep working" in a message that was filmed before he was shot dead on camera. He was posthumously awarded the title Hero of Russia.

Investigators also found that in August 2016, Bekbolatov and other gang members attacked two traffic police officers on a federal highway Kavkaz near the city of Izberbash.