A school shooting in Russia leaves at least 15 people dead and many more wounded. CBS News. The attack occurred at school #88 in the city of Izhevsk. The attacker used less than lethal firearms that were modified to fire real bullets and were obtained illegally. Video showed the attacker wearing Nazi symbols, including a prominent swastika. The attacker was identified as a 30 year old man who had gone to the school as a child. Police are investigating his possible links to neo-Nazi or far right groups. The suspect killed himself at the conclusion of his attack.
#BREAKING At lesat 6 killed in a shooting at a school in the city of Izhevsk, according to #Russia's state media pic.twitter.com/PXVDK4WFja
— Guy Elster (@guyelster) September 26, 2022
#BREAKING Russia's media published a footage of the school shooter with a swastika on his shirt pic.twitter.com/usNWh700RA
— Guy Elster (@guyelster) September 26, 2022
My Comment:
This is a breaking news story and as always things may change after I have written this post. The death toll may go up. It is also unclear if the death toll includes the gunman or not. Given the state of things between Russia and the Western press we might not get good information about this incident for some time.
This attack is probably more important than most school shootings, given the obvious political implications. The motive of this gunman could end up being internationally important. Why? Because it could be linked to the war with Ukraine. If there are any links to Ukraine whatsoever it could be used as an excuse by Russia, legitimate or not, to declare actual war (instead of the so called "special military operation")
With that being said, this attack may have absolutely nothing to do with Ukraine. It could just be another example of a jaded person deciding to take his anger out on a school. It certainly wouldn't be the first time that has happened. Indeed, Russia has their own school shooting problem that often rivals the United States. I remember one shooting in Russia where the attacker explicitly venerated Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold. This could be another copycat.
It could also be a political response to conscription and mobilization. That would make the attack only tangentially related to Ukraine. I know a lot of Russians are upset about mobilization and there has been some protest against it. But would someone really be so mad about it that they would kill a bunch of school children?
There will be people that will say that this is a false flag by Russia for some nefarious reason. I sincerely doubt that because why would the Russians want to kill their own people to justify a war they have already justified in their own minds in the first place? A false flag isn't totally outside the realm of possibility, as some people think that the 1999 Russian apartment bombings were false flags, but I doubt it.
The swastika is of course extremely relevant. But it could mean several different things. First of all, it could be a connection to Ukraine. We have all seen the photos and videos of Ukrainian soldiers on the front lines with various White Nationalist symbols, though they do tend to avoid using the swastika. Indeed, the Azov battalion were pretty explicitly fascist, so it's possible that the attacker was linked to these groups or drew inspiration from them.
It's also very possible that the attacker wore the Nazi related stuff solely for shock value. After all, no country, outside of possibly Israel, hates Nazis more than Russia, given how badly the Nazis mauled Russia during World War II. Wearing a swastika is a pretty explicit rejection of Russia and its values, which is exactly what I would expect a nihilist school shooter to do.
There is probably going to be some confusion in the media about the attackers beliefs and possible links to neo-Nazis. They have been busy painting anyone who supports Russia, or even doesn't sufficiently support Ukraine, as Nazis. And to be fair, many on the far right in the US and Europe do support Putin. But Ukrainian Nazis sure do not and anyone that is a Nazi in Russia has to absolutely hate the country and everything it stands for.
Finally, I would be negligent if I didn't point out that this is another example of how gun control simply doesn't work. Russia has a major problem with school shootings and that is despite having fairly strict gun laws, which Putin has clamped down on recently (which is a major reason I don't support him). In this case the attacker didn't even need a real gun to commit this crime. He just modified illegally obtained less-than-lethal firearms and modified them. It just goes to show that even in a country as oppressive as Russia, people will find away to kill large numbers of people.
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