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Atleast 8 people killed as student goes on shooting spree in Russian university

In one of the deadliest school attacks in Russia, at least 8 people were murdered after a previously unidentified person went on a killing rampage in a university in Perm city. The attacker was later found to be a student of the same university.

The news, confirmed by the National Investigative Committee law enforcement agency, he was detained following his Monday morning attack. The incident took place around 1,300 km east of Moscow, the capital of Russia, at the Perm State University.

Videos captured initially by scared students from their classrooms, show a man clad in strange black clothes, with a helmet and a hunting rifle. According to the IC, he had bought the weapon earlier this year, and it was meant to fire non-lethal rubber or plastic objects. Nevertheless, such guns can be modified to fire other ammunition too.

A murder investigation has been ordered in relation to the incident as dozens got injured in the attack. The killer was taken to a medical facility as “he put up resistance and was wounded” during his arrest.

Local press of Perm city telecasted clips of students fleeing the university campus by throwing themselves from classroom windows to escape the fatal attacks. Some of them can also be seen jumping from the windows on the first floor and landing heavily on the ground. They then run to get away from the attacker.

Those students who could not escape their classrooms, built barricades out of chairs to safeguard themselves and prevent the attacker from entering, one of the 60 trapped students, Semyon Karyakin, said.

There were around 3,000 students present in the university during the incident, out of the 12,000 admitted in it. The university raised alarms and urged all students to leave the campus if they can.

As per Perm’s health ministry, at least 24 people got injured in the mass shootings- with 19 of them having bullet wounds.

Though it is difficult to own a gun in Russia, under certain conditions, civilians can still buy them- for hunting, sports, self-defence. However, permission to purchase guns is granted only after the interested people pass tests and tick other mandatory requirements.

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Russian ministers were sent to the site of the attack to assist in providing aid to the victims. “The president expresses sincere condolences to those who have lost family and loved ones as a result of this incident,” Vladimir Putin’s spokesperson told reporters.

All classes at colleges, universities and local schools were cancelled on Monday in view of the shootings, regional authorities said.

An attack earlier this year in May killed 7 children and 2 teachers in a school after a teenager opened fire. The incident induced stricter laws for gun ownership in the country. Though the legal age now to be eligible for purchasing firearms has become 21 from 18, the law hasn’t come into effect yet.

However, Russia’s most fatal attack was in 2018, before the Kazan incident. A college student had killed 20 people, later killing himself in the Russian-annexed Crimea region.