At least six people have died and 24 were wounded after a shooter opened fire at Perm State University in Russia, the government there said Monday, as footage circulated on social media showing students hurling themselves from windows in a bid to escape.
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The Russian Ministry of Health, in announcing the casualties, revised initial figures from the government that cited two more deaths.
Russia’s Investigative Committee, a law enforcement agency, said the attacker was a student who had purchased a hunting rifle in May. He was apprehended following the incident. The agency said he had been hospitalized for wounds sustained while resisting arrest.
Konstantin Kalinin, the junior officer who restrained the gunman, said the attacker had a rifle and knife, in a video published on the Interior Ministry website Monday. Kalinin said he ran up to the gunmen, restrained him, removed the weapons and ammunition and then gave him first aid.
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Witnesses described hearing panicked screams and the sound of gunshots popping repeatedly as some students ran to safety and others barricaded themselves in classrooms.
The attack, which came as Russia awaited results from its parliamentary elections, dominated headlines on Monday in the country, where shootings are relatively rare. Russia has strict laws on civilian gun ownership and requires people to pass psychological exams before obtaining a license for hunting and sport firearms.
In May, nine people died and 20 others were injured when a gunman opened fire at a school in the city of Kazan, prompting Russian President Vladimir Putin to order a tightening of gun laws.
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Irina Volk, a spokeswoman for the Ministry of Internal Affairs, said the first responders on the scene were traffic police. She said the attacker fired several shots at the officers and was wounded in return fire. “The suspect has been identified. During the arrest in connection with the resistance, he was wounded,” a statement shared Monday morning local time read.
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Ivan Pechishchev, a professor at the university, told the BBC that those attempting to flee the scene jumped from second-floor windows, screaming. “One of the students told me that it was a shooting,” he said. “I heard pops, everyone began to scatter in different directions.”
Semyon Karyakin, a student who witnessed the attack told Reuters: “There were about 60 people in the classroom. We closed the door and barricaded it with chairs.”
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said it was up to law enforcement to establish reasons for the Perm attack. “But apparently, we are talking about some deviations in the young man who committed this murder, and I think experts should deal with this and try to understand what was the reason for this tragedy,” he said.
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Peskov said that while laws on obtaining weapons had been tightened, “unfortunately a tragedy has occurred, and it must be analyzed.”
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The Kremlin said Putin ordered a ministerial delegation to the area to help support the families of the victims. Perm State University, one of the oldest universities in Russia, is roughly 800 miles east of Moscow.
One of the most shocking — and deadly — attacks in Russia’s history occurred at a school attack in Beslan, southwest Russia, in September 2004.
Thirty Chechen militants raided the building, taking children, teachers and parents hostage. After a three-day standoff, Russian troops stormed the school, which resulted in a bloodbath that killed more than 300 people, many of them children.
Russian authorities were later found to have breached human rights laws, the European Court of Human Rights said, citing the use of excessive force that “contributed to the casualties among the hostages.”
Dixon reported from Moscow.
Read more:
Analysis: The recent history of terrorist attacks in Russia
Here’s how other countries have responded to mass shootings