Attack
2018 school shooting and bombing in Kerch, Crimea
On 17 October 2018, a school shooting and bombing attack occurred at the Kerch Polytechnic College in Kerch, Crimea. The perpetrator, 18-year-old student Vladislav Roslyakov, killed 20 people and wounded 73 others before killing himself. It was the deadliest school shooting in Russia or Ukraine since the 2004 Beslan school siege.
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Text from the Wikipedia article “Kerch Polytechnic College massacre”, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
On 17 October 2018, a school shooting and bombing attack occurred at the Kerch Polytechnic College in Kerch, Crimea. The perpetrator, 18-year-old student Vladislav Roslyakov, killed 20 people and wounded 73 others before killing himself. It was the deadliest school shooting in Russia or Ukraine since the 2004 Beslan school siege.
The perpetrator purchased a shotgun legally and later bought 150 rounds at the Sokol (Сокол) gun store on 13 October 2018. He entered the building of Kerch Polytechnic College on 17 October 2018 at about 10:02 a.m. A survivor of the massacre said that the shooting lasted for more than 15 minutes.
Multiple witnesses recounted the gunman strolling through the corridors of the Polytechnic College, firing shots indiscriminately at students and staff. At least 30 shots were fired during the massacre. He also fired at computer monitors, locked doors, and fire extinguishers. A large nail bomb was detonated during the attack, and local police said that they deactivated more explosives on the campus. It has not been made clear who died from the bombing and who died from the shooting.
CNN reported that state television channel Russia-24 said that 200 military personnel had been sent to the location. Eyewitness accounts differ about the time it took for law enforcement to respond; between 10 and 15 minutes even though a police station is across the street, within 300 metres (980 ft) of the college. The massacre ended when the gunman committed suicide in the college's library. Graphic video footage of the attack was captured by college’s surveillance cameras and later posted on both the news programme Vesti.Krym's YouTube channel and on its website. This footage was removed from both sites shortly afterwards. There was initial variation in survivors' accounts of the incident, with some claiming that a large bomb exploded and others describing only gunfire and the use of grenades.
Russia's National Anti-Terrorism Committee reported that most of the victims were teenagers. Fifteen students and five staff members died.
The Russian Health Minister Veronika Skvortsova told reporters that a total of 67 people were wounded, 10 of whom were described as being in a "critical" condition, including five in comas.
Crimean State Council speaker Vladimir Konstantinov announced that the victims' families would receive financial compensation, with preliminary discussions suggesting that the payments would be 1 million rubles (USD 11734.2) from the Russian federal budget and 1 million rubles from the local budget.
In the fall of 2019, the media reported that another name had been added to the list of victims of the shooting: nine months after the attack, 61-year-old Olga Nikolaevna Grishchenko, who taught economics at the college, died. The woman survived the massacre, but suffered multiple gunshot injuries to her abdomen and underwent a series of surgeries. However, the Ministry of Education, Science, and Youth of the Republic of Crimea stated that Grishchenko's death was not directly related to her injuries and urged people not to link her death to the attack on the college.
The attack was perpetrated by a fourth-year student of the college, Vladislav Igorevich Roslyakov (Russian: Владисла́в И́горевич Росляко́в; 2 May 2000 – 17 October 2018). He was 18 years old at the time of the massacre.
When Roslyakov was around ten years old, his parents broke up when his father sustained a severe head injury, after which he became disabled, started drinking alcohol, and abused Roslyakov, his mother, and other relatives. Roslyakov studied at a local school with no interest and poor grades. He had few friends, and his hobbies included weapons and video games. In 2015 he went to college to become an electrician. In college, he developed an interest in explosives and weapons and started to take a knife bayonet to class. One day he discharged pepper spray in a class and failed to explain his actions. His mother, a Jehovah's Witness, limited his social activity, searched his pockets, and refused to allow him to go to the cinema or use a computer, only allowing the latter when he turned 16.
In the days leading up to the attack, Roslyakov stated that he did not believe in the afterlife. On the eve of the attack, according to neighbours, Roslyakov burned a Bible in which he had highlighted verses, along with his mobile phone and other books.
A friend has claimed that Roslyakov "hated the polytechnic very much" and had vowed revenge on his teachers. There were also reports that he may have been bullied. On social media in the days before the attack, he discussed ignorance by others, the lack of purpose in his life, mass shootings, and suicide. Since approximately 2016, Roslyakov was in a number of online communities dedicated to serial and mass killers.
Surveillance footage of the incident shows Roslyakov wearing black trousers and a white T-shirt emblazoned with the Russian word "НЕНАВИСТЬ" (lit. 'HATRED') as he carries an eight-shot (7+1) 12-gauge Hatsan Escort Aimguard pump-action shotgun with a pistol grip. His clothing resembled that of Eric Harris, one of the perpetrators of the 1999 Columbine High School massacre, leading to speculation that the massacre was a copycat crime. According to some Russian tabloids, he had been a member of various Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris fan clubs on social networks and had informed friends of his belief that "it would be good to have a massacre", specifically referencing the Columbine High School massacre as an example. Furthermore, he had mentioned his belief in the two perpetrators being "awesome" and reposted material related to Columbine. Like perpetrator Eric Harris, Roslyakov committed suicide near the bookshelf in the library of the college by shooting himself in the mouth with his shotgun.
Russia's Investigative Committee initially classified the attack as terrorism but later changed it to "murder of two or more persons, committed in a generally dangerous way" and "illegal acquisition, transfer, sale, storage, transportation, or carrying of explosives or explosive devices". After the first reports of an alleged terrorist attack in Kerch, many Russian politicians and mass media suggested that the events were the activities of "Ukrainian saboteurs" and that the Ukrainian government was responsible; they changed their views after more information emerged, while others questioned whether Roslyakov was sufficiently checked before being allowed to purchase a gun and ammunition, which Roslyakov legally did.
In the days immediately following the massacre, investigators researched Roslyakov's background in an attempt to establish his precise motive. These investigators also revealed that, ultimately, they were treating the incident as a calculated school shooting. Officials are investigating concerns in the case, such as where Roslyakov got the 30,000–40,000 rubles (US$480–640) for the weapon and where he learned to use those weapons. It was discovered that Roslyakov obtained a weapon permit in 2018 and owned the gun legally, after completing legally required training on weapon security and presenting all required documents, including a medical report. He periodically attended a shooting club. Shortly before the shooting, he legally purchased 150 rounds of ammunition.
The Investigative Committee ordered a psychiatric evaluation of Roslyakov postmortem. Crimean Prime Minister Sergey Aksyonov stated on 18 October that the perpetrator might have had an accomplice, and police were searching for the individual "who was coaching" Roslyakov for the crime. However, on 9 November 2018, the Investigative Committee came to the conclusion that Roslyakov had acted alone.
Students returned to studies on 23 October, with checkpoints at the entrances at which the students' identities were confirmed. A spokesperson for the Rostov Region Directorate of the Russian Emergency Ministry told reporters: "An examination has been carried out. According to the preliminary information, there is no danger of [the building's] collapse."
On the night of 4 November 2018, the deleted VK page of Roslyakov, under the name "Anatoly Smirnov", was hacked. The alleged criminal's correspondences was posted online, and the contents of the page (subscriptions, saved photos, saved music, etc.) became available for viewing by anyone. In the correspondences, Roslyakov, among other things, complained about the lack of understanding from his peers, wrote about his unwillingness to live, and also that his parents "decided everything for him", said that he hated his college, and wrote that he would "arrange a great graduation" for himself.
Text from the Wikipedia article “Kerch Polytechnic College massacre”, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.