Kremlin comments on Bryansk school shooting

Russian officials will fully investigate the causes of Thursday’s school shooting in the city of Bryansk, which claimed the lives of two female students, including the assailant herself, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has said.  

According to Russian officials, the shooting in Bryansk, a city located around 340km southwest of Moscow, was carried out by a 14-year-old girl who had brought a hunting gun to school. The teenager killed a fellow student and wounded five others before turning the gun on herself. Several media reports have suggested that the girl had been bullied, and had taken the shotgun from her father.  

Commenting later on Thursday, Peskov said law enforcement agencies “must deal with this tragedy, which is what they are already doing.” He added that authorities will also asses why security measures had failed in this particular case.  

“Let’s not forget that many measures were taken and worked out by specialists. Therefore, before jumping to any conclusions… the professionals need to understand why this happened, and most importantly, why the measures that were taken earlier did not work in this case,” the spokesman stressed.  

While school shootings are relatively rare in Russia, there have been several similar incidents. One of the most shocking tragedies took place in May 2021, when a 19-year-old gunman stormed his former school in Kazan, killing nine people and injuring 32.  

In the aftermath of the incident, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed laws tightening the country’s already strict arms control legislation, including raising the legal age of gun ownership from 18 to 21 for most citizens. Authorities also compiled a comprehensive list of medical conditions that render a person ineligible to possess firearms. Putin further instructed Russian officials to roll out a unified security framework to protect educational institutions from terrorism and other threats.

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