Girl With Shotgun Goes on Bloody Rampage in School

An eighth-grade female student opened fire at a school in the Russian city of Bryansk, fatally shooting a fellow pupil and wounding several others before killing herself, officials have said.

"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 in a statement.

"As a result of the incident, two people were killed (one of them was the shooter), five were injured and have now been taken to a medical facility."

The administration of Bryansk earlier said that two people were killed and four were injured in the Thursday morning shooting.

"An eighth-grade student came to the Bryansk gymnasium with a gun, wounded four boys and committed suicide. The children were evacuated," eyewitnesses of the incident told state-run news agency RIA Novosti, which added that this information was confirmed by a source in the regional authorities.

Bryansk's regional ministry of internal affairs released a statement saying that a student brought a firearm into school and fired several shots.

Russian State Duma deputy Alexander Khinshtein wrote on Telegram that a 14-year-old girl "smuggled a Bekas-3 hunting rifle belonging to her father to school," hiding it in a tube.

The Investigative Committee said that the motives for the shooting are being established. Newsweek has contacted Russia's Foreign Ministry via email for comment.

"Operational special services are working on the spot. All schoolchildren, accompanied by adults, were sent home. The school was cordoned off by police officers," the administration of Bryansk said.

The regional prosecutor's office said it is carrying out a security check at the school to ensure "safe conditions for students and teachers." All students, accompanied by adults, were sent home, and the building has been cordoned off by police.

Russian-language Telegram channel Baza, which is linked to Russia's security services, reported that the student opened fire on her classmates during a biology class. She reportedly went up to the school's fourth floor and fired a shotgun.

The news outlet Mash reported that the shooter had been bullied at school since elementary school.

"The teachers tried to reason with the girl, but nothing worked," according to Mash.

Regional governor Alexander Bogomaz called the shooting a "terrible tragedy" and said the five wounded were all children with mild or moderate injuries.

Another school shooting in the central Russian city of Izhevsk in September 2022 left 13 people dead, including seven children, and at least 21 others wounded.

Russia's Investigative Committee identified the gunman as Artem Kazantsev, born in 1988, a native of Izhevsk, and a graduate of the school. The committee said he wore a black T-shirt with "Nazi symbols."

Update 12/07/23, 4:30 a.m. ET: This story was updated with additional information.

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