At least 8 people killed in Russia school shooting: Reports

At least eight people, mostly children, were killed in a shooting at a Russian school in the southwestern city of Kazan, local officials said.

Rustam Minnikhanov, governor of the Tatarstan republic, of which Kazan is the capital, said on Tuesday that four male and three female students had died in the shooting.

Minnikhanov’s office later added that a teacher was also killed.

According to regional health officials, 21 other people were hospitalised with wounds after the attack, including 18 children. Six of them are reportedly in intensive care.

It was possible the toll would rise.

Earlier, Russian news agencies, citing a health ministry source, said 11 people had died.

There was no way to immediately reconcile the differing death tolls.

‘Investigation is underway’

According to the Interfax news agency, two gunmen opened fire in the school.

Two children could be seen leaping from the third floor of the four-storey School Number 175 as gunshots sounded, in a video filmed by an onlooker that was circulated by RIA.

Other footage posted on social media showed a young man being pinned to the ground outside the school building by a police officer.

Authorities said additional security measures were put into place in all schools in Kazan following the incident [Courtesy of Max Zareckiy via Reuters]

“The terrorist has been arrested, (he is) 19 years old. A firearm is registered in his name. Other accomplices haven’t been established, an investigation is underway,” Minnikhanov said after visiting the school on Tuesday.

It was not clear whether any other shooters remained at large.

Footage also showed emergency service vehicles parked outside the school, with people running towards the building.

Authorities said additional security measures have been put into place in all schools in Kazan, which sits roughly 800 kilometres (500 miles) east of Moscow.

Russian President Vladimir Putin meanwhile ordered a review of gun control legislation following the shooting, the Kremlin said.

“The president gave an order to urgently work out a new provision concerning the types of weapons that can be in civilian hands, taking into account the weapon” used in the attack, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.

School shootings are rare in Russia.

One of the last major shootings of its kind took place in Russian-annexed Crimea in 2018, when a student at a college killed 19 people before turning his gun on himself.