Support The Moscow Times!

Gunmen Open Fire in School Before Supposed Double Suicide

Two men armed with hunting rifles walked into a school in northern Russia, fired two shots into the ceiling and left — only to be discovered an hour later with gunshot wounds to their heads, police said.

Initial police reports gave few details of the bizarre incident in the village of Shuryskarskoye, with the Interior Ministry branch in the Yamal-Nenets autonomous district saying in a statement Tuesday that local police had received a call Monday morning from a school director reporting the shooting.

The director said nobody had been injured, and identified the two men as residents of the village, according to the report. The village head later said the two men were graduates of the school, Interfax reported.

Exactly one hour after the shooting, a police officer found the bodies of the two men in a nearby forest. Both had been shot in the head, and police believe the deaths might have been suicides, the statement said.

"The case looks very strange, we are working on several versions" of what might have happened, an unidentified investigator was quoted as saying by Interfax.

… we have a small favor to ask.

As you may have heard, The Moscow Times, an independent news source for over 30 years, has been unjustly branded as a "foreign agent" by the Russian government. This blatant attempt to silence our voice is a direct assault on the integrity of journalism and the values we hold dear.

We, the journalists of The Moscow Times, refuse to be silenced. Our commitment to providing accurate and unbiased reporting on Russia remains unshaken. But we need your help to continue our critical mission.

Your support, no matter how small, makes a world of difference. If you can, please support us monthly starting from just 2. It's quick to set up, and you can be confident that you're making a significant impact every month by supporting open, independent journalism. Thank you.

Continue

Read more