| Date: | December 7, 2023 |
| Bryansk school shooting | |
| Location: | Bryansk, Bezhitsa City District, Moskovsky microdistrict,Gymnasium No. 5 |
| Type: | school shooting, mass shooting, murder-suicide |
| Motive: | Unknown |
| Weapon: | Bekas-3 shotgun |
| Fatalities: | 2 (including the perpetrator) |
| Injuries: | 5 (one assessed as serious, four more in a condition of moderate severity) |
| Perpetrator: | Alina Afanaskina |
On December 7, 2023, a mass shooting occurred at Bryansk school in Bryansk, Russia. One student was killed and five others were wounded before the shooter, Alina Afanaskina, committed suicide.[1] [2]
A message about a shooting at Gymnasium No. 5 was received by the city dispatch service at 9:15 Moscow time.
Afanaskina hid a Bekas-3 shotgun belonging to her father in a tube and had a knife tucked into her right boot while walking to school.[3] [4]
Afanaskina entered a biology classroom on the fourth floor and fired several shots.[4] The shooting resulted in two fatalities, including the perpetrator, and five injuries. One of the injured individuals was in serious condition, while the other four sustained moderate injuries. Following the incident, the remaining students were promptly evacuated, and arrangements were made for them to return home.[5]
Afanaskina had a twin sister who was present in the classroom at the time of the incident.[6] Both sisters arrived at the school together, although investigators have suggested that the twin may not have been aware of Alina's plans.[7]
Fourteen-year-old Alina Dmitrievna Afanaskina (; born July 17, 2009), an eighth-grade progymnasium student, was identified as the perpetrator of the shooting. The Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation opened a criminal case under Part 2 of Art. 105 Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. Afanaskina had been bullied since elementary school, and had a conflict with students at Bryansk school.[8]
As State Duma deputy Alexander Khinshtein reported, among the shooter's personal belongings found at the crime scene was a backpack, a box of cartridges and notes that the girl "must definitely meet with a friend".[9] [10] The investigation of the shooting was taken control by Commissioner under the President of the Russian Federation for Children's Rights Maria Lvova-Belova.
Afanaskina's father was detained. He faces correctional labor for up to two years, or compulsory labor for up to 480 hours, or imprisonment for up to two years in accordance with Criminal Code 224.2 of the Russian Federation. He is also charged with Article 110 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (incitement to suicide).[11] [12]
On December 9, Larisa Katolikova, deputy director of Gymnasium No. 5, where the shooting took place, was detained.[13] Katolikova was charged under Part 3 of Article 293 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation – negligence that resulted in the death of two or more persons.[14]