Six dead in Russia university shooting

A student in a black helmet opened fire at Perm State University on Monday. About 3,000 students and staff were on campus at the time and sheltered in locked rooms. Some videos showed students jumping out of second-story windows to escape. The shooter killed six people and wounded at least 28 more. He opened fire on police arriving on the scene and resisted arrest. Police shot and wounded him.

Why did this happen? While authorities have not confirmed his identity, a member of Parliament named 18-year-old law student Timur Bekmansurov as the shooter. The social media network Vkontakte took down his account, but not before news outlets shared a post he published shortly before the attack that revealed a fascination with violence. School shootings are rare in Russia, which has strict gun laws, but this was the second mass shooting on a campus this year.

Dig deeper: Read Susan Olasky’s reflections on how Christians should respond to mass shootings.