At early hours of July 17, a group of gunmen attacked a large police compound in Erebuni district of Yerevan and took several police officers hostage. All hostages were subsequently released within days in a show of good will, including a general, deputy police chief of Armenia, and a colonel, deputy chief of Yerevan police. One senior police officer was killed in a shootout, having reportedly fired nine bullets at the attackers despite repeated warnings to cease fire.