Gunman kills eight people in Russian university

A gunman killed eight people at the state-run Perm State University in Russia this morning. The shooter, who is still at large, was armed with a rifle and fired on his victims from the window of a building before entering the main university building. This event has caused international outrage following recent terror attacks in Paris and Beirut that involved gunmen opening fire on unsuspecting civilians.

The world is still reeling after last week’s devastating attacks in Paris that left 130 dead and over 300 injured. Now, just days later, an attack has occurred in Russia where 8 people were killed. The gunman is still at large, but it is believed that he opened fire from a building on his victims before entering the main university building. He then engaged in an altercation with police officers before escaping.

The modus operandi of simultaneously attacking random civilians without any motive would appear to link this with the terror attacks in Paris last week, which were claimed by the Islamic State (ISIS) militant group. Shortly after the attacks, ISIS released a video in which they encouraged more of their ‘soldiers’ to carry out such acts in Europe and around the world indiscriminately without regards for who gets killed in their ‘mission’.

It’s believed that at least one student was killed before police reached the gunman. The students were shot before they had time to run, with 9 killed in total. A massive manhunt is currently underway for the attacker, but there are no details yet as to his identity or motive. Russian authorities have not yet linked this attack to terrorism, and so far it’s unknown if even the killer knew his victims beforehand.

The attack happened around 10:30 AM local time at the school’s main building, which is located about 250 miles (400 kilometers) northeast of Moscow. Neither the shooter nor his victims have been identified as yet, and it’s currently unknown whether or not he actually was a student himself. When police caught up with him on the fourth floor, he opened fire on officers before being executed at the scene by returning gunfire.

The school’s acting director, Olga Grebennikova, has stated that there were no students among the dead as they were all in class at the time. Classes have been cancelled for today and are expected to resume tomorrow. The motive of whoever was behind this attack remains unknown, but it follows the shocking terror attacks in Paris last week that left over 130 dead. Authorities haven’t yet stated if there’s any connection between today’s shooting and those events.

It isn’t yet known whether or not the shooter knew his victims before he murdered them, nor is his identity or motive known at this time. As more information is made available, it’ll be posted here on the news feed as it comes in! Stay tuned for further details about this tragic event that occurred earlier today.