18 killed in armed attack on Russian college
Eighteen people were killed and dozens injured at a college in the Black Sea region of Crimea on Wednesday when at least one attacker set off a bomb in the cafeteria and went through the building shooting at random, officials said.
Russia’s Investigative Committee said that the attack was a case of mass murder not terrorism and named 18-year-old student Vladislav Roslyakov as its chief suspect in the rampage.
Roslyakov had gone on a shooting spree in the college before committing suicide, the committee said, and could be seen beforehand on CCTV entering the school with a rifle.
Video footage from the scene showed armoured personnel carriers and military trucks lined up on the approach to the college, in the Crimean city of Kerch. Russia’s Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu said the military was sending forces and supplies to help the victims.
Russian President Vladimir Putin says the attack was a tragedy and offered condolences to the victims’ families.
Olga Grebennikova, the college’s director, said: “There are bodies everywhere, children’s bodies everywhere... They burst in five or 10 minutes after I’d left. They blew up everything in the hall, glass was flying.”
RUSSIA’S INVESTIGATIVE COMMITTEE SAID THAT THE ATTACK WAS A CASE OF MASS MURDER, NOT TERRORISM, AND NAMED AN 18YEAROLD AS ITS CHIEF SUSPECT