Russia has reacted with shock to the massacre in a university in the city of Perm. A student there shot and killed six people on Monday. Shocked Russians are now lighting candles at the complex, which the police have sealed off.
A 40-year-old teacher called the attack “completely unexpected”. She told AFP news agency that one of her students was shot in the abdomen and required surgery. “We really hope she’s all right.”
The attack killed five women and one man. Those victims are between the ages of 18 and 66. Dozens of people were also injured when a man, reportedly a student, started shooting around him. Video footage shows people jumping out of windows to save themselves.
Russian President Vladimir Putin called the deaths of the six victims “a great loss” for the country on Monday. Education Minister Valery Falkov visited the injured in the hospital. Nine more victims are said to be in critical condition.
The gunman was eventually overpowered. He also ended up in hospital. His motives have not yet been disclosed. However, it is clear that he could legally obtain a gun.
Russia has been rocked more often in recent years by massacres in educational institutions. Nine more were killed in May when a 19-year-old man started shooting at his old school in Kazan.