At least seven students and a teacher killed in Russian school shooting terror attack

At least seven students and a teacher were killed and 18 were injured in a school shooting in the Russian city of Kazan Tuesday, according to the head of the Republic of Tatarstan, Rustam Minnikhanov.

Speaking to local reporters in Kazan, the Tatarstan capital, about 500 miles east of Moscow, Minnikhanov said the shooter, who he described as a “19-year-old terrorist” had been detained. Minnikhanov said the gunman had a weapon registered in his name and “no accomplices have been established.”

Video footage shared on social media showed students hurling themselves from third-floor windows to escape the gunfire. Two children died jumping from the windows, according to the RIA news agency.

Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered a plane with medics, psychologists and equipment to be dispatched to Kazan to assist the victims. Putin has also instructed the head of Russia’s National Guard to “urgently” draft new regulation on what kind of weapons can be owned by civilians, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.

“The thing is that firearms, which are used as assault rifles and similar weapons in certain countries, are sometimes registered as hunting guns. The Russian National Guard will urgently consider the issue,” Peskov said.

School shootings are a rarity in Russia. A 2004 assault on a school in Beslan in the North Caucasus, in which more than 330 people were killed, was the work of Islamist separatists. In 2014, a teenage student in Moscow shot a teacher and a police officer and took more than 20 of his classmates hostage.

Since then, more than 20 incidents involving weapons have been recorded in schools and colleges across Russia.

Russia’s laws on civilian gun ownership are considered strict. Passing psychological exams are required to obtain a license for hunting and sport firearms. It’s illegal for Russians to own guns that shoot in bursts or have magazines with more than a 10-cartridge capacity.

It’s unclear what kind of weapon the gunman used Tuesday.

Source: Washington Press