By: Demi Conteh
Russian authorities report that a shooter opened fire at a school in central Russia, killing at least 17 people and injuring 24 others. 11 students from the school in Izhevsk are among the victims. The shooter was a former student of the institution and committed suicide there. Online videos appear to show chaos inside the structure where the incident occurred, with kids and people running through hallways. In another video, kids can be seen hiding beneath desks, with blood on the floor of the classroom and a bullet hole in the window. According to Russia's investigating committee, two security officers and two teachers were among the four adults and eleven students who died. Two of the 24 were minors.
Two pistols were reportedly in the possession of the attacker, identified as Artem Kazantsev. The shooter's lifeless body is shown lying on the floor in a balaclava and Nazi-themed T-shirt in a video that state investigators shared online. His home is being searched by investigators. The regional administrator has declared a time of mourning that will extend through September 29. Vladimir Putin, the president of Russia, is "truly mourning" the victims and has called the shooting a "inhuman terrorist attack," according to a representative for the president.
This recent incident is dreadfully evocative of past school shootings that have occurred in Russia in recent years. There have been several occurrences across the nation where either a current student or a graduate returned to their school to incite a massacre. Earlier attacks used hunting rifles that had been lawfully purchased; at that time, getting a licence for such a weapon was practically as simple as passing a driving exam. Following the shooting at a Kazan school in May 2021 and the attack at Perm University in September of that same year, the law was tightened. However, the perpetrator in this most recent crime utilised pistols he could only have obtained through unlawful means on the underground market. The shooter had written the word "hate" on his weapons and was wearing all black, which was a sad reminder of the US killing at Columbine High School in 1999. The Columbine Movement, which the Russian security services believed existed and was connected to the assaults in Kazan and Perm, was labelled as a terrorist organization and outlawed earlier this year by the Russian government.
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