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

A tragic incident unfolded at a school in Bryansk, a city located in the eponymous region adjacent to Ukraine, as a Russian schoolgirl unleashed a firearm upon her fellow classmates. The harrowing event resulted in one fatality and left five others injured before the young girl ultimately took her own life. Official reports from state news agencies and authorities provided these grim details.

The assailant, a 14-year-old girl, concealed the firearm within a tube designed for carrying papers, according to an account given by a fellow student to RIA Novosti, a Russian state news agency. The sudden eruption of gunfire prompted the immediate response of two girls, one of whom was the twin sister of the shooter, who rushed into their classroom.

A preliminary investigation conducted by Russia’s Investigative Committee revealed that the perpetrator had brought a pump-action shotgun into the school, which she employed to target her fellow students. Disturbing footage shared by Ria Novosti depicted terrified children seeking refuge in a classroom, where they barricaded themselves behind upended desks and chairs.

The father of the deceased girl was brought in for questioning as a witness, as investigators sought to ascertain how his daughter had acquired the firearm. This inquiry was reported by the Telegram channel Shot. Simultaneously, the school’s director faced questioning regarding the circumstances surrounding the introduction of the weapon into the school premises and the adequacy of the school’s security systems, as reported by the state news agency Tass.

Maria Lvova-Belova, the presidential children’s rights commissioner, announced on her Telegram channel that she was overseeing the care of the injured children. Notably, in March, the International Criminal Court had issued an arrest warrant for Lvova-Belova and Russian President Vladimir Putin on charges of war crimes, specifically related to the alleged abduction of children from Ukraine.

The motive behind this tragic shooting incident is under investigation by Russia’s Interior Ministry, adding to a concerning trend of school shootings in the country in recent years. In September 2022, a gunman unleashed violence in a central Russian school, resulting in 17 fatalities and 24 injuries before taking his own life. In April 2022, another tragic incident occurred when a man claimed the lives of two children and a staff member at a kindergarten, also in central Russia. Furthermore, in May 2021, a man opened fire at students in his former high school in Kazan, resulting in the loss of nine lives, including seven children. The memory of a 2018 mass shooting at a college in Russian-occupied Crimea, where an 18-year-old student claimed the lives of 20 individuals, continues to cast a dark shadow on the nation’s collective consciousness.