Crimean college shooting: what we know so far

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October 17, 2018 6:35 PM

A teenage gunman shot dead at least 19 people and injured dozens before killing himself at a technical college where he was a student in Russian-annexed Crimea on Wednesday.

Here is what we know so far about the shooting.

A 'US style' shooting

Russian authorities initially put out conflicting versions of what happened at the college in Kerch, a city in the Crimea peninsula annexed by Moscow in 2014.

The attack was first reported as an explosion, with authorities saying an "unidentified explosive device" had gone off and classifying the incident as an act of terror.

A few hours later Russia's Investigative Committee said the victims were killed by gunshots.

"A shooting took place after the explosion. The gunman had a hunting gun," Crimean official Igor Mikhailichenko said.

The attack was then reclassified as a murder.

"This is not a terrorist act. It's a mass killing committed by one scumbag," Crimean leader Sergei Aksyonov said on state television.

Two bombs and a gun

During the course of the day investigators said they found two explosive devices: one in the college canteen and another in the personal belongings of Roslyakov, whose body was discovered in the library.

According to the authorities, the explosive device in the canteen was "filled with metal objects" and caused substantial damage to the building's first floor.

CCTV images showed a man entering the school -- "holding a gun", investigators said. They added that Roslyakov's body had gunshot wounds.

According to a source cited by the RIA Novosti state news agency, Roslyakov had legally acquired a gun licence and passed the necessary psychological tests to do so.

Unknown motives

According to authorities, Vladislav Roslyakov was 18 years-old and a fourth year student in Kerch college.

His motives for the attack are still unknown. According to Aksyonov, he did not previously show signs of aggression.

A photograph published on Russian websites appeared to show the body of a young man lying in a pool of blood, resembling the man in the CCTV footage.

Images circulating on social media allegedly show Roslyakov wearing a similar T-shirt to Eric Harris, one of the two killers responsible for the 1999 Columbine High School massacre in the US.

Authorities said they are investigating whether Roslyakov had accomplices or whether he was acting "under the influence" of another person or group.

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