On the afternoon of July 29, the police and the Emergency Medical Service received information that a receptionist had been stabbed at a hostel in Pārdaugava, Rīga. Unfortunately, when the emergency services arrived at the scene, the stabbed man had already died.
On suspicion of this crime, law enforcement officers arrested a man of Asian origin who was under the influence of alcohol at the time.
The man was found to be a client of the hostel and to have a residence permit in Latvia. The person had not been seen by the Latvian police before.
Preliminary information obtained during the investigation shows that a conflict had broken out between the attacker and a hostel employee over the use of a room, after which, in a fit of rage, the visitor took a knife from his personal belongings and stabbed the hostel receptionist in the back and other parts of the body no less than ten times.
Criminal proceedings for murder have been opened in connection with the incident. The law provides for life imprisonment or imprisonment for five to 20 years and probation supervision for up to three years for such a crime.
The court ordered the suspect to be remanded in custody.
