Russia school shooting: Girl, 14, shoots classmate dead and injures 5 before killing herself
A 14-year-old Russian schoolgirl shot dead a classmate and injured five others, before killing herself, police said on Thursday.
The shooting happened at a school in Bryansk, in a region that borders Ukraine. Five children were wounded.
One of the people injured was in serious condition, Russian state news agency RIA Novosti reported.
"According to preliminary investigation data, a 14-year-old girl brought a pump-action shotgun to school, from which she fired shots at her classmates," Russia's Investigative Committee said.
An investigation is ongoing to establish a motive, it added.
Video shared by Ria Novosti showed children sheltering in a classroom behind a door barricaded with upended desks and chairs during the attack.
Russian outlets reported the shooter was also armed with a long-handled knife.
Regional governor Alexander Bogomaz called it a “terrible tragedy” and said the five people wounded were all children with mild or moderate injuries.
It reported that the girl’s father has been taken in for questioning as a witness, with investigators seeking to understand how the teenager came to possess a gun.
Guns are normally tightly controlled in Russia, but Bryansk is one of several southern regions that have seen cross-border attacks in the course of the war with Ukraine. Moscow has encouraged the formation of armed defence units in these areas.
Russia has seen several school shootings 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.