Campus Shooting In Russia's Perm Leaves 6 Dead, 28 Injured

A student opened fire on Monday on the campus of a university in the Russian city of Perm, killing six people and injuring 28 others, in the country's second school shooting of 2021

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 20th September, 2021) A student opened fire on Monday on the campus of a university in the Russian city of Perm, killing six people and injuring 28 others, in the country's second school shooting of 2021.

Videos shared on social media showed a black-clad helmeted man walk onto the campus of Perm State University carrying a long-barreled weapon. Another clip showed students jumping out of second-floor windows.

The shooter was confronted inside a building by a traffic police officer who was the first to reach the scene. Jr. Lt. Konstantin Kalinin exchanged fire with the suspect and injured him, while a senior officer, Sr. Lt. Vladimir Makarov, helped evacuate people.

An interior ministry spokesperson said the two officers would be rewarded.

The heroic officer told Sputnik that he entered the building and saw an armed young man walking down the stairs. The shooter resisted arrest and was injured. He was hospitalized.

"The young man fell down. I ran up to him, restrained him, pushed away a rifle and bullets and a knife, and started administering first aid," Kalinin said.

Russia's Investigative Committee said it had brought murder charges against the shooter, who, it said, had been identified, though his name has not been released.

Russia's internal military force Rosgvardia said the suspect bought a hunting rifle legally in May. Lawmaker Alexander Khinshtein identified it as a Turkish smoothbore rifle, Huglu 12/76.

Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the shooter appeared to have "some deviations," although he did not offer any evidence.

The popular Russian social media network, VK, said it had identified the shooter's account and blocked it.

Some of the 28 people wounded were hospitalized, the Investigative Committee said.

A student from Iraq was among those hurt. His friend, also from Iraq, told Sputnik that he saw an armed man in black open fire outside the main building.

One of the students, who locked themselves in a room, said they saw a gun-toting man through the window and a wounded person lying on the lawn.

A video from the scene published by the investigative committee showed a plastic entrance door riddled with bullets, spent casings strewn on the floor and a staircase splattered with blood.

Classes at Perm University were suspended until next Monday and campus was closed. The university said a shrine to the victims would be set up at the entrance to a university building once investigators lifted cordons.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said the deaths were a huge loss for the entire country and no condolences could ease the pain.

Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin said the president had ordered health and education ministers to fly to Perm immediately.

Mishustin promised medical and psychological assistance to the victims and their families. The government will give a million rubles ($13,600) apiece to the families of those killed, and 500,000 rubles to those injured.

US Ambassador to Russia John Sullivan condemned the shooting as a "senseless tragedy" and expressed his sympathy for the victims. Condolences also came from Israel, Germany, India, Greece, Norway, Sweden, Turkey, and the Czech Republic.

Russia toughened gun laws this year after a 19-year-old opened fire at a school in the Russian city of Kazan in May, killing nine. Khinshtein said the Perm shooter bought the rifle before the new rules went into effect.