A shooting drama at the Defense Ministry in downtown Tallinn has ended with two hostages freed and the perpetrator killed.

At 17:45 a police spokesperson said that the gunman had shot himself, while the prosecutor's office stated that he had been killed during the police operation.

The drama began with initial shots ringing out at 15:10 local time, Aleksandra Solntseva, a spokeswoman for the police's North Prefecture, told ERR.

"The area around the mininstry has been cordoned off, people have been evacuated and the police are clarifying the circumstances of the incident," she said in the minutes following the beginning of the afternoon's events.

While the police in flak jackets had surrounded the building, ministry employees were evacuated to the Estonia Theater adjacent the site. An ERR journalist at the scene said she saw some personnel fleeing the building through windows.

A ministry spokesman said Minister of Defense Mart Laar was not in the building at the time of the incident. He arrived later, however, and was seen speaking to police outside the cordon.

At 16:13, another ERR journalist on site reported that the last employees had been evacuated and that streets surrounding the building at Sakala 1 had been closed to traffic.

At approximately 16:50 additional shots were fired and an explosion was heard inside the ministry HQ. Police and ambulance crews then entered the building.

According to one ministry official, a former Defense Forces soldier had detonated an explosive device and fired off a shot before taking a security guard hostage. He later released the guard.

More shots were reported fired at 17:06, just minutes before the drama ended.

There is as yet no known motive for the shooting.

ERR's photos of the incident can be seen here.

Steve Roman