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

MOSCOW (AP) — A Russian schoolgirl shot several of her classmates with a gun on Thursday, killing one person and injuring five others, before killing herself, state news agencies and authorities said.

The shooting happened at a school in Bryansk, in a region that borders Ukraine, Russia’s Investigative Committee said.

Children were reportedly among the wounded.

One of the people injured was in serious condition, Russian state news agency RIA Novosti said.

Video shared by Ria Novosti showed children cowered in a classroom behind a door barricaded with upended desks and chairs during the attack.

Preliminary investigations found that the 14-year-old girl had brought a pump-action shotgun to the school that she used to fire at her classmates, Russia’s Investigative Committee said.

The girl’s father was taken for questioning as a witness, RIA Novosti said. Investigators also wanted to ask him how his daughter came into possession of the gun, the Telegram channel Shot reported.

The presidential Children’s Rights Commissioner, Maria Lvova-Belova said on her Telegram channel that she was overseeing the care of the injured children. In March, the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for Lvova-Belova and Russian President Vladimir Putin for war crimes, accusing them of responsibility for the abduction of children from Ukraine.

Russia’s Interior Ministry said it was looking into a motive for the shooting, which is one of several school shootings in the country 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.

In 2018, an 18-year-old student in Russian-occupied Crimea killed 20 people in a mass shooting at a college.