Moscow: The shooter will undergo a psychiatric examination.
Moscow:
Two people were killed and four injured when a gunman opened fire inside a public service office in Moscow on Tuesday, the city government said.
The mayor of the Russian capital, Sergei Sobyanin, said on Twitter: “As a result of the shooting by an unidentified person, two people have been killed.
The Russian Interior Ministry said the attacker was a 45-year-old Moscow resident and he was taken to the police station.
Deputy Mayor Anastasia Rakova said two center employees – “an administrator and a security guard” – were killed in the shooting.
She said four people were injured, including a 10-year-old girl.
The child is in “serious” condition and has been taken to a children’s hospital. Rakova said the three injured adults were undergoing surgery in a statement on Telegram.
The incident took place at a multi-functional government office dealing with various administrative issues in southeastern Moscow.
Rakova said staff and visitors of the Ryazansky Public Office Center were evacuated “immediately” when the shooting began around 3pm Moscow time (1200 GMT).
In a statement, the Russian Interior Ministry said the man entered the center “and started shooting at citizens there, after which he tried to hide.”
A law enforcement officer at the scene “tried to capture and neutralize the attacker”, the ministry said, quoting representative Irina Volk.
Some agencies also reported that the assailant was a former soldier.
The identity of the shooter and his motives have yet to be revealed.
Russia’s Investigative Committee – the agency that investigates major crimes – has opened a criminal investigation into the shooting.
Killed ‘on the spot’
In a statement, it said a man entered a room in the government-run building and “opened fire with a gun at those present in the room.”
“Two people were killed on the spot from their injuries,” it said.
The commission added that the injured, including children, are receiving medical help.
In the meantime, the shooter will undergo a psychiatric examination.
Mass shootings in Russia are rare but the country has been rocked by two separate tragic killings – one at a school, the other at a university – this year, spurring the Legislators tightened laws governing gun access.
Authorities have blamed foreign influence for previous school shootings, saying young Russians have been exposed online and on television to similar attacks in the US and other places.
In a famous public shooting in 2019, a gunman opened fire near the FSB domestic intelligence agency headquarters in central Moscow, killing one officer and injuring five.
Other high-profile shootings have taken place in the Russian military.
In November 2020, a 20-year-old soldier killed three colleagues at a military base near the city of Voronezh, south of Moscow.
In a similar attack in 2019, a young recruit shot dead eight service members.
(Except for the title, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from an aggregated feed.)
