Shooting at Russian university leaves 8 dead, 28 injured

MOSCOW â€”  A gunman opened fire Monday at a university in Russia, leaving eight people dead and 28 injured, officials said.

The suspect was detained after being wounded in an exchange of fire with police, the Interior Ministry said. There was no immediate information available on his identity or possible motive.

During the attack, students and staff at Perm State University locked themselves in rooms, and video posted on Russian news sites showed some students jumping out of second-story windows.

In some footage, a black-clad, helmeted figure could be seen striding on a campus sidewalk while cradling a long-barreled weapon. Russia’s Investigative Committee said the gunman fired a smoothbore hunting weapon. That could indicate he used a shotgun.

A traffic police unit was the first to reach the scene, and the suspect opened fire on them, according to the Interior Ministry. He was wounded when police returned fire and then was disarmed, the ministry said.

Although firearms laws are strict in Russia, many people obtain permits for hunting weapons. News reports cited officials as saying the suspect had a permit for a pump-action shotgun, although it was not clear if it was for the weapon used.

In May, a gunman opened fire at a school in the city of Kazan, killing seven students and two teachers, with a registered weapon.

The university, which has 12,000 students enrolled, said about 3,000 people were on the campus at the time of the shooting. The school is in the city of Perm, which is about 700 miles east of Moscow and has a population of about 1 million.

The Investigative Committee said 28 people were injured, some of them hospitalized, but did not give details. The Health Ministry said 19 of them were shot; it was not clear how the others were injured.