Only three days later, the January events took place in Vilnius, threatening the fledgling government. During the events, Šimėnas failed to appear at a government meeting after being called for and could not be located, prompting the Supreme Council to dismiss him on January 13 and appoint Gediminas Vagnorius in his place. It would later emerge that Šimėnas had left Vilnius and spent the night in the relative safety of Druskininkai.