Gunman shot dead after hostage bid at Estonia defence ministry

Tallinn police storm building and kill unidentified gunman as he tried to take hostages
Estonian police outside the Defence Ministry in Tallinn
Armed Tallinn police outside the defence ministry. An unidentified gunman was shot dead inside earlier. Photograph: Ho/Reuters

A gunman opened fire inside Estonia's defence ministry and tried to take staff hostage on Thursday, but was shot dead by police who stormed the building, an official said.

The attacker entered the ministry in downtown Tallinn at midday, threw a smoke bomb, fired shots and tried to kidnap two employees, but police quickly evacuated the building and officers wearing bulletproof gear entered it, officials said.

Defence minister Mart Laar was not there at the time, ministry spokesman Hannes Kont told The Associated Press.

Footage showed several ministry employees climbing out of a first-floor window and jumping to safety while police cordoned off the area.

Hasse Svens, a journalist working for Swedish broadcaster SVT, was near the building when the shooting started.

"When I reached the defence ministry I heard several shots and a powerful explosion and also smelled the gunpowder smoke," he told SVT by telephone.

An official at the country's security police would not say how the shooter died, but a spokesman for the northern district prosecutor's office, Maria-Elisa Tuulik, said he apparently was shot and killed by the police.

Police would not identify the attacker, but Estonian media, citing unidentified ministry officials, said he was a former soldier.

The attack shocked the Baltic nation of 1.3 million people which joined Nato in 2004.