All news

Crimea college gunman was interested in making explosives, says anti-terror agency

On October 17, a student went on a shooting rampage, detonated a bomb at the Kerch Polytechnic College in Crimea, and later committed suicide

KERCH, October 18. /TASS/. The student of the Polytechnic College in the Crimean city of Kerch who carried out a mass shooting and explosion attack there was into making homemade bombs and bragged about it, Valery Kiselev, a spokesman for Russia’s National Anti-Terrorism Committee (NAC), told Russia’s Channel 1 television on Thursday.

"We already know that he worked with some explosives and boasted to his close friends," he noted, emphasizing that when people around are aware of what is happening but do not react, that’s a problem.

He pointed out that instructions for making an explosive device could be found on the Internet.

"The reason why he assembled such an explosive device is simple. Anyone can find anything online. Besides, this device is fairly easy to put together. Unfortunately, instructions for this do exist today," Kiselev indicated.

On Wednesday, a local student, armed with a rifle, went on a shooting rampage and detonated a bomb on the campus of the Kerch Polytechnic College in Crimea. The shooter later turned the gun on himself and committed suicide. Subsequently, a criminal case was initially opened on terrorism charges, but was later reclassified as murder.

Twenty-one people died because of the shooting and explosion at the Kerch technical college, including the gun-wielding teenage attacker who ended up taking his own life. Around 50 people were taken to local hospitals, with ten of them in intensive care units in grave condition. 

Three days of mourning have been declared in Crimea as of Thursday.