Earlier this morning, a Russian man naturalized as a Costa Rican citizen was arrested by Fuerza Publica (Costa Rica’s national police force) for allegedly perpetrating a mass shooting, whch resulted in a series of missed shot with the exception of a woman who was shot in the leg. The incident occurred in Barrio Cordoba in San Jose, near the Centro Comercial del Sur shopping plaza.

 

According to Joselyne Ugarte of online news daily CRHoy.com, the  incident occurred in the early morning hours when shoppers were standing close to a store that the Russian suspect, whose last name was reported as Paulovich, presumably owns. It is presumed that the man was suspicious of his victims, and he may have thought that the shoppers were planning a robbery. At that time, the Russian suspect pulled out a pistol and fired off a few rounds.

 

When police officers arrived on scene, they found a 24 year-old woman with a bullet wound in her right leg. The officers proceeded to arrest the suspect and confiscated a .38 caliber revolver. According to Dimas Bustos, superintendent of the Cathedral Precinct of Fuerza Publica, the firearm was properly registered with the Weapons and Explosives Section of the Ministry of Public Security.

 

The suspect and the confiscated weapon were transferred to the local prosecutor’s office, where the case is pending due process.

 

This incident is occurring months after the Directorate of Immigration and the National Board of Tourism (Spanish initials: ICT) are trying to increase Russian tourism to Costa Rica. As previously reported by The Costa Rica Star:

 

In late March 2014, the Directorate of Immigration and ICT asked the administration of President Laura Chinchilla to allow Russian passport holders to skip the visa application when coming to Costa Rica on vacation. The official approval is expected to be made in mid-April.

 

According to research reports issued by ICT, the median annual earnings of Russian tourists are greater than $125,000. Their average vacation stay in warm Latin American destinations lasts 11 days, and they spend between $2,500 and $5,000. This estimate far more than what tourists from Canada and the United States are spending these days.