Russian eighth-grader reportedly opens fire on her classmates, injuring five and killing one

A student opened fire at a school in the Russian city of Bryansk on Thursday. According to the Russian Investigative Committee, a 14-year-old girl brought a pump-action shotgun to school and opened fire on her classmates. Five people were injured and one person was killed, according to local police, while the shooter took her own life before she could be detained. The injured students have been hospitalized.

According to Russian state media, the shooter was an eighth-grade student. The Telegram channels Baza and Mash reported that her name was Alina, while RIA Novosti said the weapon she used belonged to her father.

The police were notified of the shooting at 9:15 a.m. local time, according to Baza. The channel reported that Alina went to a classroom on the fourth floor and began shooting at her classmates. According to the Telegram channel Shot, the school does not have security metal detectors.

The leading theory police are considering is that there was a conflict between the shooter and her classmates, Russian state media reported, citing law enforcement sources. According to multiple Telegram channels, Alina had been the target of bullying since she was in elementary school. Baza wrote that she was “closed-off and not very sociable.”

One student gave the local Telegram channel 112 the following account of the incident:

Basically, everything was fine until second period. The police came, the ambulance, and that was it. The girl had a shotgun in her backpack, and we could hear shots during our second lesson. The vice principal asked us to close the door. Then, after the signal, we ran to the locker room, but while we were running, there was blood on the third floor. We went downstairs, put on our coats, and left the school. She was normal until people started telling her, “You can’t do anything to us, you’re helpless.”

The student who died was a 13-year-old named Maria, Baza reported. According to 112, a 14-year-old named Timofey was left with wounds in his left forearm and left knee. Shot reported that Timofey is in stable condition and that he will soon undergo emergency surgery to extract the shotgun pellets from his arm, chest, and leg. Other students also reportedly received gunshot wounds.

Multiple Telegram channels have posted videos that appear to contain the sound of the shots.

Russian State Duma deputy Alexander Khinshtein published a photo that purportedly shows the weapon used in the shooting. According to him, the shooter used a Bekas-3 hunting shotgun. Khinshtein said the incident is a result, among other things, of “negligent storage of firearms.”

The Investigative Committee has opened a criminal case for murder over the incident. Investigators have brought in the shooter’s father for questioning, according to state media.