Soviet Army Captain Wounds Lithuanian at Military Checkpoint

A Soviet army captain shot a Lithuanian man at a military checkpoint Sunday, and officials of the breakaway republic said they have begun keeping a record of brutality inflicted on their citizens, a government spokesman said.

Government spokesman Audrius Azubalis said a Soviet patrol officer stopped the Lithuanian man and asked him to get out of the car and put his hands on the windshield.

A shot fired at the ground by the captain, apparently as a warning, ricocheted and hit the man in the leg. The Lithuanian was taken to a Vilnius hospital for treatment.

Azubalis also said the last of six Lithuanians seized after a shooting incident involving paratroopers Thursday was released, then taken to a hospital with a concussion.

The Lithuanian Health Ministry reported a similar case Saturday in Kaunas, 60 miles west of Vilnius, where a man detained Jan. 24 by the military was released and taken to a hospital, suffering from a concussion, arm fractures and chest injuries, Azubalis said.

The commander of the Soviet army garrison had warned Saturday that his troops were getting “more and more out of control.”

Troops have been patrolling major cities in Lithuania and the highways that connect them since a weekend of violence two weeks ago claimed 14 lives and injured more than 500 people.