2021 school shooting in Russia
On 11 May 2021, a school shooting and bomb attack occurred in Kazan, Tatarstan, in the western part of Russia. Nine people (seven 8th-grade students and two teachers) were murdered, all of them by gunfire, and 23 others were injured. The 19-year-old shooter, Ilnaz Galyaviev, was identified as a former student. He pleaded guilty to the murder of two or more persons on 12 May and was sentenced to life imprisonment in April 2023.
Events.
The mass shooting occurred at "Gymnasia" No. 175 (), a school in Kazan, Tatarstan, Russia, which had 714 students and 70 employees present at the time. Before the shooting, Ilnaz Galyaviev had visited the school unarmed, but was not allowed in. At (6:24 UTC), Galyaviev was stopped at the main entrance by a security system requiring a card. Galyaviev opened fire when the school worker attempted to stop him from entering. The wounded worker managed to press a panic button at 9:25, triggering an alarm in the school and alerting law enforcement. The alarm alerted teachers in the building, allowing them to lock down their classrooms. A radio communication was also sent out in the building, calling for teachers to close their classrooms.
Next, Galyaviev moved to different classrooms, which were closed due to the radio announcement, and shot at people in the halls, killing a teacher. Galyaviev then set off an improvised explosive device near the first-floor English-language room before moving to the second floor, reloading his weapon in a bathroom and killed another teacher. Galyaviev then moved to the third floor, going into classroom 310 and killing seven students. Up to 17 shots were fired during the shooting. Galyaviev then moved to different classrooms on the third floor, all of which were locked. Galyaviev, now having run out of ammunition, attempted to leave the school, just as law enforcement arrived at 9:33. The school was evacuated within twenty minutes.
Video footage inside and outside the school was posted to social media; it appeared to show students using classroom windows to escape, school corridors littered with personal belongings, and a man detained by police.
Firefighters rescued 23 people on the third floor of the school.
Victims.
Nine people were killed during the shooting: seven were eighth-grade students and two were teachers. One student of the school committed suicide in the aftermath of the shooting.
The injured were 20 students ranging from 7 to 15 years old and three adults. At least seven wounded students were hospitalized with gunshot wounds. A Ministry of Emergency Situations Ilyushin Il-76 transported nine injured, including five students, from Kazan to Zhukovsky. After landing, the injured were transferred in ambulances to Moscow. One student was put on an artificial ventilator after surgery.
Perpetrator.
Ilnaz Renatovich Galyaviev (; ; born 11 September 2001), a 19-year-old resident of Kazan, was detained. Galyaviev graduated from "Gymnasia" No. 175 in 2017 and was expelled from the college of TISBI, a management academy in Kazan, in April 2021. He had no previous criminal record. On the morning of the shooting, Galyaviev posted a photo on Telegram of himself in a face mask with the word 'God' in Russian written on it, captioned, "Today I will kill a huge amount of biowaste and shoot myself."
Galyaviev had planned for the shooting to take place on 6 May. However, a non-working day was declared by President Putin, which closed the school until 11 May.
A psychological and psychiatric mental evaluation of Galyaviev is planned which will take at least two months. Galyaviev had previously sought mental health treatment and testing revealed some cerebral atrophy a year before the shooting, though he was not registered with a psychiatrist. Relatives had also noticed an increase in Galyaviev's aggressive behavior. However, while in court on 12 May, Galyaviev denied having any serious illnesses.
The Hatsan Escort PS Guard semi-automatic shotgun reportedly used by Galyaviev was officially registered on 14 April, two days after Galyaviev received a permit to carry weapons. In addition, Galyaviev researched bomb recipes on the Internet. He made two bombs, leaving one in his apartment and bringing the second to the school.
While in custody, Galyaviev said he planted a bomb at his registered address. However, during a search of the location, no explosives were found, and evidence was taken.
Legal proceedings.
On 12 May, Galyaviev pleaded guilty to the murder of two or more persons (Criminal Code of Russia, Article 105, Part 2), which carries a sentence of life imprisonment.
On 10 December 2021, the suspect was finally charged. He is charged under four articles of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, namely the murder of two or more persons, including minors, in a generally dangerous way, with a rowdy motive, attempted murder, the manufacture of an explosive device, and intentional damage to property.
After the arrest, Galyaviev was taken to Moscow, and he was assigned a forensic psychiatric examination at the Scientific Center for Social and Forensic Psychiatry V. P. Serbian. On 21 July, mass media reported that he was declared insane, but the Investigative Committee of Russia refuted this information. According to the lawyer of the accused Vladimir Bogdan, as of 16 November 2021, after the second psychological and psychiatric examination, Galyaviev was found to have committed the crime in a state of sanity. Chairman of the RF IC Alexander Bastrykin explained the result of the first examination by the fact that "the fact of the influence of the ideas of the Columbine subcultural trend on Galyaviev was not taken into account." A wider group of experts was involved in the re-examination, to which the investigation presented additional materials — the conclusions of psychiatrists that Galyaviev's motivation was reduced to imitating the actions of other followers of this trend. On 9 November 2022, the trial of Ilnaz Galyaviyev began.
During the trial, the prosecution announced the protocols of inspection of the video cameras of gymnasium No. 175. The investigators who examined the video recordings concluded that "in the course of viewing the above video recordings from cameras installed on the territory inside and outside the gymnasium, in order to detect persons who participated in the commission of the crime together with the accused Galyaviev, assisted him in the commission of the crime by moving objects, similar to weapons and ammunition, other items, removed various obstacles in front of the accused Galyaviev to commit a crime, made attempts to hide the traces of the crime and the accused Galyaviev himself, items similar to weapons, ammunition and other items, the inspection of video recordings established that such persons are absent."
On 10 April 2023, Galyaviev was given the last word that he did not consider himself a god, and also said that he would write a book and pay off claims against the relatives of the dead. The verdict was delivered on 13 April 2023 at 10:00 Moscow time. By a court decision, Ilnaz Galyaviev was sentenced to life imprisonment in a special regime colony.
Aftermath.
All second-shift classes in Kazan were cancelled, and the entrances to Kazan schools were restricted. Several schools in Moscow were searched with dogs, although nothing was found. All students who attend "Gymnasia" No. 175 are planned to return to school on 17 May in neighboring schools while the school undergoes repairs. After their arrival at the school, a counter-terrorism operation (CTO) regime was established. It was later removed at 15:47. In addition, 12 May was declared a day of mourning. Cultural and entertainment events were cancelled for 11 and 12 May.
Tatarstan authorities sent a 1 million rubles (US$) payment to each family of the deceased. Six victims with major bodily harm have received 400 thousand rubles (US$) each, with plans to send payments of between 200 and 400 thousand rubles to more families of the injured. In addition, the Russian Red Cross Society raised 62,777,390 rubles (US$) for the victims of the shooting.
Gun control proposals.
President Vladimir Putin expressed condolences to the relatives of the victims and ordered the government to tighten the country's gun laws. Vasily Piskarev, chairman of the State Duma Committee on Security and Anti-Corruption, said a draft bill for tougher restrictions on obtaining a gun license would be considered on 12 May by a working group and that the bill could be considered in the first reading by the State Duma on 18 May. The bill, which was submitted to the State Duma in December 2020, prohibits citizens with two or more convictions, or citizens who have been caught drunk driving, from receiving a license to own weapons.
Secretary of the General Council of United Russia, Andrey Turchak, stressed the need to toughen legislation on gun trafficking and find better approaches to protect schools. State Duma Chairman Vyacheslav Volodin expressed the need for a procedure to prevent unstable citizens from obtaining weapons. He also expressed the need for tougher responsibility on those who distribute false certificates to obtain weapons.
Human Rights ombudsman Tatyana Moskalkova proposed raising the age to obtain a weapon to 21.
Director of the National Guard of Russia, Viktor Zolotov, proposed a mandatory psychological test when receiving a permit for a firearm. He also proposed raising the age to obtain a permit to 21.
Other legislation.
Volodin said the shooting introduced the need to discuss anonymity on the Internet in order to reduce extremist and violent content.
References.
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