Police complete two-day Armageddon exercise in Lithuania

Lithuanian police have completed a two-day exercise simulating a violent armed incident in the Akmenė district, LRT reported.

The exercise, held mainly at the Karpėnai limestone quarry, was based on a scenario in which an armed serviceman wounded his colleagues and fled. He later injured officers attempting to arrest him, blew up his car and escaped into the quarry grounds.

Participants used drones and a military air force helicopter to search for the suspect. He was eventually detained by officers from the Aras Anti-Terrorist Operations Unit.

After the active phase ended, crime scene investigators from across Lithuania and Latvia began collecting evidence and documenting details at the simulated crime scenes.

The exercise involved the Military Police, medical staff, firefighters, members of the Akmenė district Riflemen’s Union acting as extras, and representatives of the Moldovan police, who observed the planning and implementation. The search was coordinated from a modern police command post.

Exercise organiser Vaidas Kazlauskas said the scenario drew on real incidents, including the killing of a police officer in Mažeikiai several years ago and the shooting of a police car in Alytus last summer, when the suspect died after detonating explosives inside a vehicle.

Kazlauskas said realistic training helped officers perform more effectively at real crime scenes, improve their professional skills and strengthen teamwork.

Exercises on investigating gravesites and responding to an aircraft crash are also planned in the Šiauliai district on September 22 and 23. The exercises will include searching for victims of an air disaster, exhuming mass graves and documenting war crimes. Investigators will practise recovering simulated bodies buried several months earlier.