Court sentences PMLP employee over deaths of two boys

A first-instance court has sentenced an employee of Latvia’s Office of Citizenship and Migration Affairs (PMLP) to two years in prison and 220 hours of community service for firearm storage violations linked to the deaths of two boys in Riga, LSM reported. The ruling is not yet final.

The boys, both 12, were classmates. In February 2025, one accidentally shot the other with a firearm belonging to his father, the PMLP employee, and then shot himself in the head.

The father was found guilty of storing a firearm in breach of regulations, causing serious consequences, as well as breaching rules on ammunition storage and disclosing confidential information. The pre-trial investigation found that he had left keys to the safe containing the gun and ammunition accessible to the children.

PMLP previously told Latvian Television that the firearm was not needed for the employee’s work.