8 DIE IN RUSSIAN SCHOOL SHOOTING, GUNMAN HELD

MOSCOW—A student opened fire at a university in the Russian city of Perm on Monday, killing at least eight people and wounding several, law enforcement said.

The shooter was himself shot during the incident at Perm State University, around 1,300 kilometers east of Moscow, investigators said. He was taken to a hospital.

Earlier media footage from the scene showed students jumping from firstfloor windows to escape the building, landing heavily on the ground before running to safety.

Students built barricades out of chairs to stop the shooter from entering their classrooms, they said.

The shooter was identified as a student at the university, the investigative committee, which handles probes into major crimes, said.

Motivated by hatred

“There were about 60 people in the classroom. We closed the door and barricaded it with chairs,” student Semyon Karyakin told Reuters.

Local media identified the shooter as an 18-yearold student who had earlier posted a social media photo of himself posing with a rifle, helmet and ammunition.

“I’ve thought about this for a long time, it’s been years and I realized the time had come to do what I dreamt of,” he said on a social media account attributed to him that was later taken down.

He indicated his actions had nothing to do with politics or religion but were motivated by hatred.

Russia has strict restrictions on civilian firearm ownership, but some categories of guns are available for purchase for hunting, self-defense or sport, once wouldbe owners have passed tests and met other requirements.

The shootings were the latest in a series.