Russian school shooter gets life in prison

Almost two years after a rampage with nine dead at a Russian school, the perpetrator has been sentenced to life in prison.

The 21-year-old from the Republic of Tatarstan was found guilty of multiple murders and armed robbery, the Russian agency Interfax reported on Thursday, citing the court in the city of Kazan.

The prosecution had asked for life in prison. The man’s defence lawyer wanted his client handed over for psychiatric treatment.

In May 2021, when the man was 19, he entered his former high school with a hunting rifle and explosives and opened fire on the students and teachers.

Among the nine dead were seven minors. In addition, more than 20 people were injured.

During the trial, the attacker confessed to his crime, which he had also announced in advance on the internet.

In addition to the prison sentence, he was also fined the equivalent of approximately €2,200 ($2,424).

In Russia, such rampage killings are considered relatively rare but had increased in recent years.

Also in 2021, a law student shot several people at a university in the city of Perm.

In 2018, an 18-year-old attacked a college in the city of Kerch on the Ukrainian Black Sea peninsula of Crimea, killing 20 people. Crimea was illegally annexed by Russia in 2014.