Russia: a dozen victims in a shooting at the University of Perm
The entrance to the University of Perm, in Russia, where a student spread terror on Monday, September 20, 2021 by killing several people.
REUTERS - STRINGER
Text by: RFI Follow
3 min
At least eight people were killed and several others injured on Monday, September 20, by a man who opened fire on the grounds of Perm University in eastern Russia.
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The assailant entered the campus of Perm University, in the Urals, eastern Russia, on Monday, September 20 at 11 a.m. local time, according to the faculty's press service.
Armed with a rifle, he then allegedly opened fire.
Assessment, still provisional: eight dead and at least 24 injured.
The shooter arrested
The shooter, whose identity has been established but not disclosed, is believed to be a student, the country's Investigative Committee said. A media outlet mentions an 18-year-old freshman who reportedly described on VKontakte, the Russian Facebook, how he bought a shotgun,
reports our correspondent in Moscow,
Anissa El Jabri
. “
On September 20, a student in one of the university buildings (...) opened fire on people around. As a result, eight people died and several were injured,
”said the body responsible for the most important investigations in the country in a statement.
The author was "
injured during his arrest as he was putting up resistance,
" added the Investigation Committee, which did not immediately give any information on the shooter's motive.
A video posted to social media showed students jumping from the windows on the first floor of a university building to escape the gunman.
On another, turned from a window, we saw an individual dressed entirely in black opening fire and heading towards the entrance of a building.
Russian presidency spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Vladimir Putin, who is currently in quarantine after the discovery of a Covid outbreak in the Kremlin, was aware of the tragedy.
"
The president expresses his deep condolences to those who have lost family and loved ones in this incident,
" he added.
Multiplication of armed incidents
Armed incidents of this type, rare in Russia where arms control is strict, have increased in recent years, leading to tougher legislation.
Vladimir Putin had even denounced a phenomenon imported from the United States.
Last such deadly event, on May 11, 2021, a 19-year-old young man opened fire at
his old school in Kazan
, in the Russian republic of Tatarstan, killing nine people.
The same day, the Russian president ordered a review of the rules concerning the carrying of weapons.
The perpetrator of the attack in Kazan, who had been arrested, carried a permit for a semi-automatic weapon.
The most serious recent drama dates back to October 2018, when a high school student killed 19 people before killing himself at a high school in Kerch, a town on the Ukrainian Crimean peninsula that Russia annexed in 2014.
The authorities also claimed to have foiled in recent years dozens of plans to attack schools, cases often involving teenagers.
In February 2020, the security services (FSB) arrested two young people, born in 2005 and of Russian nationality, who were active on various websites where they defended murders and suicide.
According to investigators, they planned to attack a school in Saratov, on the Volga.
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