Authorities on Monday said that a gunman opened fire in a school in central Russia, killing 17 people and wounding 24 others before shooting himself dead.
The shooting took place in School No 88 in Izhevsk, a city 960 kilometers east of Moscow in the Udmurtia region. The gunman was identified as 34-year-old Artyom Kazantsev, a graduate of the same school. According to Russia’s Investigative Committee, Kazantsev wore a black t-shirt bearing “Nazi symbols.” No details about his motive have been released as yet.Â
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The government of Udmurtia said 17 people, including 11 children, were killed in the shooting. According to Russia’s Investigative Committee, 24 other people, including 22 children, were wounded in the attack.
The governor of Udmurtia, Alexander Brechalov, said the gunman, who he said was registered as a patient at a psychiatric facility, killed himself after the attack.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov described the shooting as “a terrorist act” and said Russian President Vladimir Putin has given all the necessary orders to the relevant authorities.
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“President Putin deeply mourns deaths of people and children in the school, where a terrorist act took place,” Peskov told reporters Monday.
The school educates children between grades one and 11. It has been evacuated and the area around it has been cordoned off, the governor said.
Russia’s National Guard said Kazantsev used two non-lethal handguns adapted to fire real bullets. The guns were not registered with the authorities. Izhevsk, a city of 640,000, is located west of the Ural mountains in central Russia.
