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Moscow school siege: children taken hostage freed Moscow school siege: two dead but hostage pupils freed
(about 4 hours later)
A man took more than 20 children hostage at a Moscow school in a short-lived siege that ended with all the children freed, according to early reports. A brief hostage situation at a Moscow school on Monday ended with all the children freed, but a policeman and teacher were killed. Police said the gunman, who took two dozen 15-year-old pupils hostage, was a fellow student at the school, possibly on a revenge mission.
However, one Russian news agency reported that a police officer and a 36-year-old geography teacher were killed during the confrontation on Monday. The incident came as Russia sits on a high security alert before the Winter Olympics, which start in the southern city of Sochi later this week. The gunman does not appear to be linked in any way to organised terror groups.
The incident took place with the country on high security alert ahead of the Winter Olympics, which start in the southern city of Sochi later this week. However, the man is thought to be a student and does not appear to be part of any organised terrorist group. The student, named only as Sergei, was armed with two rifles, and forced a security guard at School 263 in north-east Moscow to let him inside the building. He then apparently entered a classroom of around 20 students.
Armed with a rifle, the man forced a security guard at School 263 in north-east Moscow to let him inside, reports said. He then apparently entered a biology class of around 20 students aged 15. Students from other classes were taken to safety and the police called, but when they arrived the hostage-taker shot at them from a window, injuring one officer. Students present told the Russian website Life News that the shooter was wearing a long woman's fur coat, and had two rifles and two bags of bullets. A statement from the Investigative Committee said that the shooter had taken aim at a teacher while on his way to the classroom and the teacher later died. Those in the classroom said the gunman entered the room and shot the 36-year-old geography teacher twice in the chest, before aiming a final shot at his head.
Video footage showed an emergencies ministry helicopter landing near the school and several ambulances rushing to the scene. About an hour after the start of the siege, Russian media reported that all the children had been freed, and a statement from the interior ministry later confirmed this. It was not immediately clear whether the man had made any demands. "He started telling us how he had come to this, and said that he wanted to know if there is life after death, and came to shoot before he died," said one of the students. Another said it was clear from his expression that he was very scared, and added that the student had not had previous conflicts with the teacher or any other students.
The website Life News said that one police officer was injured, while RIA Novosti news agency reported that one officer and a teacher had died in the gunfire. Students from other classes were evacuated. When police arrived, the hostage taker shot at them from a window. One policeman later died of his wounds, while another is injured.
Later, the gunman began to speak on his mobile phone, apparently to his father, who calmed him down and persuaded him to give himself up. The siege lasted less than two hours.
A spokesman for Russia's Investigative Committee said he believed the child had suffered an "emotional breakdown". School shootings are rare in Russia, though the horror of the school siege at Beslan in 2004 is still fresh in the memory. At Beslan, more than 300 children died when Chechen terrorists took hostages in the school gym and Russian troops stormed the building.