WORLD : Gunman Aimed at Top Soviets

MOSCOW — A gunman who fired two shots during a Revolution Day parade on Red Square last week was in fact trying to aim at the Soviet leadership, a police officer who overpowered the man said today.

After pulling a double-barreled hunting rifle from under his coat, the gunman began to take aim at the Lenin Mausoleum, where President Mikhail S. Gorbachev and other leaders were standing, Sgt. Andrei Mylnikov said.

“He was about three meters (3.3 yards) from me. I ran up to him and, grabbing the hunting gun barrel with both hands, sharply raised it upward,” Tass news agency quoted him as saying. No one was injured in the shooting, and officials at the time said the gunman’s intention was not clear.

The gunman, Alexander Shmonov, 38, was arrested and is now being held by the KGB security police. He has been charged with attempted terrorism and, if convicted, could face the death sentence.