A Russian teenager stabbed a teacher and his classmate, set a classroom on fire and caused mass panic at a public school in southern Russia on Wednesday.
A spate of deadly school shootings and stabbings has hit Russia over the past year. The Kremlin suggested in January that the “evils” of the Internet may have played a role in the attacks.
A 17-year-old student stabbed a computer science teacher and a female classmate in the town of Sterlitamak, investigators said Wednesday.“
Then he spilled a flammable substance and committed arson. He wounded himself with a knife,” the Investigative Committee said in a statement.
The fourth victim was another female classmate who jumped out of the school’s second-floor window, it added.
Investigators have opened a criminal case against the teenager for attempted murder as well as a negligence case against officials tasked with preventing underage crime.
According to a statement by the investigative committee, the officials had received warnings about the students’ “aggressive behavior” before the attack.
