Russia shooting: Gunman kills several at Perm University

In Summary

• Other students locked themselves into classrooms in a bid to escape the gunman.

• More than 20 people were injured during the shooting.

The gunman walked on to Perm University's campus on Monday morning and started shooting
The gunman walked on to Perm University's campus on Monday morning and started shooting
Image: REUTERS

The assailant walked onto the campus on Monday morning and started shooting.

Students and teachers barricaded themselves inside the university building; others were seen jumping from windows.

Police say they wounded and detained the attacker, who is said to be a student. More than 20 people were injured during the shooting.

The incident occurred at 11:00 (06:00 GMT) at Perm State University, located around 1,300 kilometres (800 miles) east of the capital, Moscow, in the Urals. Officials initially reported eight had died, but subsequently revised the death toll down.

One professor at the university described students leaping out of buildings: "They jumped out in some horror, screaming," he told the BBC.

"One of the students told me that it was a shooting. I heard pops; everyone began to scatter in different directions. I went to my students in the second building and continued to hear the pops."

Other students locked themselves into classrooms in a bid to escape the gunman.

"There were about 60 people in the classroom. We closed the door and barricaded it with chairs," one student, Semyon Karyakin, told Reuters news agency.

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