Russian schoolgirl shoots several classmates, leaving 1 dead, before killing herself

MOSCOW (AP) — A Russian schoolgirl shot several of her classmates with a gun on Thursday, killing one person and injuring five others, before killing herself, state news agencies and authorities said.

The shooting happened at a school in Bryansk, in a region that borders Ukraine, Russia’s Investigative Committee said.

Children were reportedly among the wounded.

One of the people injured was in serious condition, Russian state news agency RIA Novosti said.

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Video shared by Ria Novosti showed children cowered in a classroom behind a door barricaded with upended desks and chairs during the attack.

Preliminary investigations found that the 14-year-old girl had brought a pump-action shotgun to the school that she used to fire at her classmates, Russia’s Investigative Committee said.

The girl’s father was taken for questioning as a witness, RIA Novosti said. Investigators also wanted to ask him how his daughter came into possession of the gun, the Telegram channel Shot reported.

The presidential Children’s Rights Commissioner, Maria Lvova-Belova said on her Telegram channel that she was overseeing the care of the injured children. In March, the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for Lvova-Belova and Russian President Vladimir Putin for war crimes, accusing them of responsibility for the abduction of children from Ukraine.

Russia’s Interior Ministry said it was looking into a motive for the shooting, which is one of several school shootings in the country in recent years.

In September 2022, a gunman opened fire in a school in central Russia, killing 17 people and wounding 24 others before shooting himself dead.

In April 2022, a man killed two children and a staff member at a kindergarten also in central Russia.

In May 2021, a man opened fire at pupils at his former high school in the Russian city of Kazan, killing nine people including seven children.

In 2018, an 18-year-old student in Russian-occupied Crimea killed 20 people in a mass shooting at a college.