Authorities in Russia have arrested a 13-year-old boy after an attack at a school in Chelyabinsk where a classmate’s throat was slit and four others were injured
A teenage boy has gone on a rampage at a school in Russia, slitting a classmate’s throat and wounding at least four others.
A girl was rushed to hospital in a serious condition following the attack at the school in Chelyabinsk, near the Ural Mountains, after reports the boy entered the school and began “randomly beating up his peers”. The girl, named as Valeria E, 13, lost consciousness after she was hit on the head by a hammer and had her throat slit in the disturbing incident.
A teacher and three other students were also injured in the attack. Biology teacher Nina Shoshina, 57, was wounded as she tried to overpower the boy and protect her children at school number 68.
The suspect, a boy named only as Roman G, was detained on site and later taken to hospital. Another girl was also undergoing emergency surgery after she was injured in the attack.
Ms Shoshina said from hospital that the attacker “ran into the Biology room five minutes before the end of the lesson” armed with a hammer and pistol. “He didn’t say anything, he just screamed,” she said.
“I immediately started screaming to stop him. I ran up to him, but the girls were a little faster. He hit both of them on the head with a hammer, then I got hit on the arm, shoulder and head.”
Different reports claim the boy had a hammer, not an axe, while it’s also been claimed the pistol was fake. The other wounded students were named as Andrey V and Maria R, both 13. Maria was also undergoing surgery.
A grandmother of one of the wounded girls said: “He went into the classroom, sat there for a while, came out with a gun, an axe, a knife – and this is what happened.” She added: “How did they let him into the school? I don’t understand. It’s just horrible.”
News outlet Baza reported that Roman “came to school all in black in the middle of the first lesson, but did not go straight to the classroom, but walked past and went towards the toilet. “A few minutes later, he ran screaming into the classroom where the Biology lesson was taking place and started waving a hammer.
“First, he hit one of the girls on the head, then the teacher. After that, Roman hit another girl and a boy, ran out of the classroom and ran down the corridor.”
Hours before the incident he had posted a rant on social media in which he said: “Putin has enslaved the population.” Investigators are also to examine the theory reported by Russian media that the boy was suspected of taking part in a sinister online suicide game which involved wounding people before taking his own life.