Around 17 people, including 11 children, lost their lives in a mass shooting on Monday in a school in the central region of Russia. The following information has been shared by an update issued on Tuesday by the authorities.
Another three persons are still battling for their lives. The incident took place on Monday in Izhevsk, capital of the Republic of Udmurtia, when an armed man burst into the school and fired on its occupants. He later committed suicide.
The suspect, identified as a former student of the school, now 34, may have been a member of a neo-Fascist organisation. He wore a “black sweater with Nazi symbols and a balaclava,” according to investigators.
He was also being treated at a psychiatric hospital.
Governor of Udmurtia Alexander Brechalov mentioned in a statement released via video that the armed man had shot himself. The school educated children between the grades of 1 to 11. It has been evacuated & the area around it has been fenced off, the governor said.
Izhevsk, a city of 6,40,000, is located west of the Ural mountains in central region of Russia. Local sources mentioning the authorities said that the death toll is likely to spike.
Meanwhile, a local MP added that, “The gunman was armed with two non-lethal pistols that had been altered to five live ordnance.” The school administration said students and teachers had been evacuated.
At the same time, Russian media have shared videos which appear to show panic inside the building where the shooting took place. Some footage shows blood on a classroom floor and a bullet hole in window, with the children crouching down underneath desks.
Moreover, the head of the region has made an announcement about mourning period until Thursday. In May last year, a school shooting took place in Kazan, Tatarstan, which has claimed the lives of seven students and two teachers. The 19-year-old shooter was identified as a former student.