A gunman opened fire at a school in central Russia on Monday, killing 15 people and wounding 24 before shooting himself, authorities said.
The shooting took place at the 88th school in Izhevsk, a town 600 miles east of Moscow in the Udmurt region.
The Russian Investigative Committee identified the gunman as 34-year-old Artem Kazantsev, a graduate of the same school and said he was wearing a black T-shirt emblazoned with “Nazi symbols”. Details of his motives were not released.
The commission said 15 people, including 11 children, were killed in the shooting and 24 others, including 22 children, were injured in the attack.
The gunman committed suicide after the attack, said Udmurt Governor Alexander Brecharov, who he said was registered as a patient in a mental hospital.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov described the shooting as an “act of terror” and said Russian President Vladimir Putin had issued all necessary orders to the relevant authorities.
“President Putin expresses his deep condolences for the deaths of people and children at the school where the terrorist attack took place,” Peskov told reporters on Monday.
The school educates children between the first and eleventh grades, which is the end of the Russian high school. It was evacuated and the surrounding area was cordoned off, the governor said.
The Russian National Guard said Kazantsev used two non-lethal pistols capable of firing real bullets. These weapons are not registered with the authorities.
A criminal investigation has been launched into the incident for multiple murders and unlawful possession of a firearm.
Leave a Reply