Cops: Russian Spy Sergei Skripal Targeted with ‘Nerve Agent’

Investigators believe that Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter were poisoned by a “nerve agent” at a Salisbury mall on Sunday, leaving them critically ill in a hospital. In a Scotland Yard press conference, Assistant Commissioner Mark Rowley stated that they are investigating an “attempted murder by administration of a nerve agent,” and believe the two people were “targeted specifically.” Rowley also noted that the first police officer to respond to the scene was also in the hospital in critical condition. They would not specify the nature or give more details on the nerve agent used in the attack. Officials also outlined that there was no subsequent “widespread health risk,” despite the chemical being used in a public setting. Skripal was found unconscious on a bench Sunday along with his daughter Yulia at around 1:30 pm local time, and were taken to intensive care. Skripal is a former Russian military intelligence colonel who spied for the British in the 1990s, and found refuge in the U.K. in a 2010 spy swap.