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People jumped out of windows and locked themselves in rooms as a Perm university student killed at least six people.
At least six people were killed when a student opened fire on a university in the Russian city of Perm, the second mass shooting this year in a country where such incidents are generally rare.
The suspect was arrested shortly after the attack began on Monday morning at Perm State University, located about 1,300 km (800 miles) east of the capital, Moscow.
The Russian investigative committee said the assailant had been identified as a university student. He opened a murder investigation into the incident.
The death toll was previously declared at eight, but was later revised to six.
More than 20 people were injured, many of them by gunfire. The severity of the injuries was not immediately clear.
Police are seen near the scene after a student opened fire at Perm State University in Perm, Russia on September 20, 2021 [Maksim Kimerling/Reuters]Local media footage showed students fleeing the attack, some jumping from first-floor windows to escape the university, landing heavily on the ground before running to safety.
The students built barricades with chairs to prevent the gunman from entering their classrooms, they said.
“There were about sixty people in the class. We closed the door and barricaded it with chairs, ”student Semyon Karyakin told Reuters.
The university, which has 12,000 students enrolled, said about 3,000 people were on campus at the time of the shooting. He had urged those who could leave campus to do so.
Law enforcement officers work near the scene after a gunman opened fire at Perm State University in Perm, Russia on September 20, 2021, in this still image from a video [Anna Vikhareva/Reuters]Russia has strict restrictions on the possession of civilian firearms, but certain categories of firearms are available for purchase for hunting, self-defense, or sport, once potential owners have successfully completed them. tests and fulfilled other requirements.
Monday’s suspect used a weapon designed to fire non-lethal rubber or plastic projectiles, the Associated Press news agency reported, citing the Perm State University press service.
These weapons can be modified to fire other ammunition.
Russian Presidency spokesman Dmitry Peskov said: “On the surface we are talking about some deviations from a young man who committed these murders and I think specialists need to face this and understand what the because of this tragedy. “
People stand behind the fence near Perm State University with the Posguardia (National Guard) to the left, in Perm, Russia on Monday September 20, 2021 [Anastasia Yakovleva/AP]School and university shootings are relatively rare in Russia.
But on May 11 this year, a Kazan teenager killed seven children and two teachers at a school, prompting President Vladimir Putin to toughen gun ownership laws.
Russia raised the legal age for purchasing firearms from 18 to 21 after the Kazan shooting, but the new law has not yet come into force.
It is the deadliest school shooting in Russia since 2018, when a student at a Russian-annexed Crimean college killed 20 people before turning his gun on him.
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