Guard Reveals Previously Unknown Details About Tragic Night in Priekule
Elvis, a security guard working at the festival in Priekule, shares new information about the events before and after a drunk policeman fatally assaulted a man.
Earlier this week, the public was shocked by news that a drunk policeman killed a man at the "Ikar's Festival" in Priekule. The victim was Normunds Vamzis, a teacher and head of the clothing design program at Liepāja Music, Art and Design Secondary School. In an interview with LA.LV, Elvis, a security guard at the event, provided details about what happened before and after the tragedy.
Elvis said there were six guards on duty – two from 8:00 PM guarding the stage, and four more arriving at 10:00 PM. After that, two guards stayed at the stage in rotation, while four patrolled in pairs. The area was quite large.
About 15 minutes before the fatal incident, Elvis and his colleague saw two people chasing each other. At first they thought something serious was happening, but then realized it was childish behavior. One of them was the now-detained policeman. The guards approached to warn them to behave.
"I went up and told them to stop this kindergarten, and he pushed me aside. Word for word, then he realized I was a guard," Elvis recalled. The detainee said, "All right now! We were just fooling around. No more problems." However, his initial reaction was aggressive – he was muscular and athletic.
After the warning, the guards left, but soon Elvis received a call from a colleague about a fight near the toilets. He rushed over, but it was already over. The victim was lying in the recovery position, and girls nearby said he was still breathing. Paramedics arrived, and the guards helped lift him onto a stretcher.
Then the detainee tried to enter the ambulance to give his personal details. "At that moment he seemed to have some realization, he kind of admitted his guilt. He said he wanted to give his details because he was the one who hit the man," Elvis said. The guard told him he could give the information to the police.
Someone from the crowd yelled at the detainee to leave while he could. The young man disappeared briefly but returned and got into the police van. Elvis noted that there had been other incidents at the festival that were resolved in time, but this time the fatal conflict started about a minute after they left the young men. With experience as a guard in Latvia and abroad, Elvis said that most fights involve young people aged 18-30. He believes that this quarrel could likely have been resolved with words.
