Eight students were shot dead and 24 others injured in a shooting at a Russian Perm University this morning.
Which the attacker, a student walked through corridors garbed in black with a helmet, students ran to hide, and even jumped from windows and locked themselves in rooms as the university student in Perm carried out his attack, killing at least eight, injuring 24 others, 19 with bullet wounds.
Russia’s Investigative Committee, the agency that operates probes into major crimes, said the gunman had been identified as an 18-year-old student of the university. He was armed with a ‘traumatic’ non-lethal weapon, media reports stated. Such weapons can be modified to fire other ammunition.
Investigative Committee representative Svetlana Petrenko told media persons that the shooter was wounded during his arrest, he has been detained and further investigation is underway, she added.
Petrenko said the suspect was detained shortly after launching the attack on Monday morning at Perm State University, which is about 1,300 kilometres (800 miles) east of the capital, Moscow.
Local media footage showed students fleeing the attack, with some seen jumping from first-floor windows to escape the university, landing heavily on the ground before running to safety.
Students built barricades out of chairs to stop the shooter from entering their classrooms, they said.
“There were about sixty people in the classroom. We closed the door and barricaded it with chairs,” student Semyon Karyakin told Reuters.
The university, which has 12,000 students enrolled, said about 3,000 people were on the campus at the time of the shooting. It had advised those who could leave the campus to do so.
Police are seen near the scene after a student opened fire at the Perm State University in Perm, Russia September 20, 202.
While Russia has strict restrictions on civilian firearm ownership some categories of guns are available for purchase for hunting, self-defence or sport, once would-be owners have passed tests and met other requirements.
According to unconfirmed reports, the suspect had previously made posts stating his intentions on social media.
The regional health ministry said that among those wounded were injuries both from the shooting and from trying to escape the building. One of the wounded is in serious condition, while the others suffered injuries of “moderate severity”.
The Indian Embassy in Russia issued a statement expressing condolences over the “horrific attack”.
“Shocked at horrific attack at Perm State University in Russia; our deep condolences for loss of life & best wishes for early recovery of those injured. Embassy in touch with local authorities, representatives of Indian students. All Indian students safe,” the statement read.