Baku police arrest man over shooting at state Oil Academy: 13 dead

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(RIA Novosti) - Police arrested a man on Friday in connection with the killing of 13 people at the State Oil Academy in Azerbaijan's capital, the APA agency said citing the detained man's brother.

Nadir Aliyev, a Georgian national living in Azerbaijan, is reported to have known the 29-year-old gunman, Farda Gadyrov, who entered the academy on Thursday morning and began a shooting spree that left 13 staff and students dead and 13 others wounded before turning the gun on himself.

"Nadir and Farda knew each other," as they were from the same region but Aliyev's brother added, "My brother was five years younger that Farda. When Farda was living in Russia, my brother was in Ukraine. Nadir arrived in Tbilisi in September 2008. On March 18 this year, he left for Baku."

He said that his brother, who was arrested following the shooting but released, worked at a doner fast food cafe near the academy. He denied that Nadir had anything to do with Farda, a Georgian national of Azerbaijani origin.

The academy is a major international center for the training of oil industry specialists. Former students include Soviet-era secret police head Lavrenty Beria and Vagit Alekperov, president of Russia's largest independent oil producer, LUKoil.

A probe into the incident has been launched under the supervision of Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, who has conveyed his condolences to the families of those people killed in the attack.

The General Prosecutor's Office in Baku said Friday that three people, who were wounded in the shooting, had been discharged from hospital.