19 dead in Crimea college rampage

MOSCOW/KIEV - An 18-year-old student strode into his vocational school in Crimea, a hoodie covering his blond hair, then pulled out a shotgun and opened fire on Wednesday, killing 19 students and wounding more than 50 others before killing himself.

Local authorities started to hold a three-day mourning, Russian media reported on Thursday, as it wasn't clear what prompted Vladislav Roslyakov, described as a shy loner, to go on the rampage. A security camera image carried by Russian media showed him calmly walking down the stairs of the school in the Black Sea city of Kerch, the shotgun in his gloved hand.

"He was walking around and shooting students and teachers in cold blood," said Sergei Aksyonov, the regional leader in Crimea. "This is not a terrorist act. It's a mass killing committed by one scumbag."

Roslyakov "really hated the college because of evil teachers and hinted he would take revenge on them", RBK newspaper quoted an anonymous fellow student as saying.

Officials said the fourth-year student killed himself in the library of the Kerch Polytechnic College after the attack. His mother, a nurse, was helping to treat victims at a local hospital after the shootings, unaware yet that her son was accused of the rampage and was already dead.

Crimea was incorporated into Russia in March 2014 following a local referendum. Ukraine says the peninsula was annexed.

Such school shootings are rare, and Wednesday's attack was by far the worst by a disgruntled student in Crimea.

Russian President Vladimir Putin expressed his sadness over the "tragic event" and offered his condolences to the victims' families at a news conference in the southern city of Sochi, where he was meeting with Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi.

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko also expressed his condolences to the families of victims in the attack, calling the attack a "tragedy" and a "terrible murder", and called for an investigation.

Officials said Roslyakov had only recently received a permit to own a shotgun and bought 150 cartridges just a few days ago, according to local officials.

Aksyonov, the regional leader in Crimea, said the gunman had been described as a shy boy who had no conflicts.

"He wasn't aggressive, he was rather timid," Aksyonov said, speculating that Roslyakov might have "watched some movies" that inspired him to go on the shooting spree.

Ap - Xinhua - Afp

(China Daily 10/19/2018 page12)