An individual opened fire on Tuesday April 26 in a kindergarten in the Ulyanovsk region, in central Russia, killing several people including at least two children and a teacher.
The shooter allegedly committed suicide immediately afterwards, local authorities told AFP.
The age of the children is not yet known but they would probably be “between 3 and 6 years old”, they added.
According to Russian news agencies, citing law enforcement, “the reason for the shooting could be a family dispute.”
The Baza Telegram channel, known for its ties to the security forces, said the man entered the school during siesta time, armed with a shotgun.
A growing scourge in Russia
Long very rare, fatal shootings, especially in schools, have tended to become more numerous in Russia in recent years. President Vladimir Putin himself was alarmed by this, seeing in it a phenomenon imported from the United States and a perverse effect of globalization. He thus tightened the legislation on the bearing of the weapons.
In September 2021, an 18-year-old student opened fire with a shotgun at Perm University in the Urals, killing six and wounding around 30. A few months earlier, in May, a 19-year-old shot at his old school, killing seven students and two teachers.
The deadliest shooting dates back to October 2018, when a high school student killed 19 people before killing himself at a high school in Kerch, on the annexed Crimean peninsula.
