Mass shooting in Russia leaves 8 people dead and 28 wounded.

 

Survivors call their loved ones. The Hill/Getty. 

A mass shooting in Russia has left 8 people dead and 28 wounded. The Hill.  The attack occurred at Perm State University. The suspect was armed with a long gun and was shot and wounded by police before being taken into custody. He was armed with a non-lethal weapon that was modified to accept real bullets. Video shown on social media shows the attacker walking with a tactical vest and helmet while more video shows students jumping from windows to escape the attacker. The attackers motives were unclear but were not political or religious in nature. Russia has strict gun laws but the attacker was able to get a gun. 

reports of another school shooting in Russia; this time at Perm State University. Russian agencies say there are casualties. pic.twitter.com/jkeyGDLO05

— Mike Eckel (@Mike_Eckel) September 20, 2021

The shooter who opened fire at Russia’s Perm State University, leaving several people wounded. pic.twitter.com/0tc46ZUbPM

— Raj Shekhar Jha (@rajshekharTOI) September 20, 2021

My Comment:

Western media is already ignoring this story. There has been more information released about this attacker but mostly from Russian media. They have identified the attacker and updated the number of wounded while most western media are still using the five dead stat that was released early this morning. 

From what I understand the attacker used a less than lethal firearm that was modified to accept actual bullets. I am assuming it was a shotgun based on that information and the pictures and video I have seen of the shooter. 

I am guessing a lot of the wounded were the people that fell down from the windows. Though it was only a single story drop a few of them appeared to land on concrete and there may have been some broken bones and twisted ankles. Still probably the right thing to do if confronted with a mass shooter. A broken leg is better than a shotgun blast in most cases. 

The motive of this case is unclear. Some people on social media are claiming this was Islamic terrorism but I haven't seen evidence of that. What little I do know seems like this was just another nihilistic killer that just wanted to kill people. There doesn't appear to be a political or religious aspect to this attack.

Russia has had problems with mass shootings and school shootings in particular. They had one just this year in May. That is despite strict gun control laws that make it fairly difficult to get a gun. Those laws were tightened after the shooting in May but haven't gone into effect yet. 

Regardless, despite the strict gun control laws the shooter in this case was able to get guns and ammo. He had to take an extra step to modify a less than lethal firearm but he was still able to get a firearm without too much difficulty. It just goes to show that gun control won't stop mass shootings. 

That's probably one of the reasons why western media is mostly ignoring this story. The absolutely hate it when there is a mass shooting in a country with gun control laws. But I don't think that's the only reason. In short there is little sympathy for Russia in Western media to the point where I bet more than a few journalists are happy that this happened...