An armed man has killed 13 people, including seven children, and injured 21 other people in a school in central Russia on Monday, authorities added. Russia’s Investigative Committee added that the shooting took place in a school in Izhevsk, a city around 960 kilometres (600 miles) east of capital city of Moscow in the Udmurtia region. Those wounded were 17 children and 7 adults, the committee added.
Governor of Udmurtia Alexander Brechalov mentioned in a statement released via video that the armed man has shot himself. The school educated children between the grades of 1 to 11. It has been evacuated and 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.