Student carries out massacre at vocational school in Crimea

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A student carried out a massacre at a vocational school in Kerch, Crimea, October 17, 2018. (Kerch FM News via AP)

A student at a vocational school in Crimea carried out a horrifying massacre there on Wednesday, killing 19 students and wounding dozens more. He then killed himself.

Vladislav Roslyakov, 18, walked through the school, shooting people with a shotgun, according to Russia's top investigative agency and media reports. After the rampage, he shot himself inside the library of Kerch Polytechnic College in Kerch, a city on the Black Sea.

As the attack unfolded, Russian officials initially reported a gas explosion but then said a bomb had ripped through the campus.

Investigators confirmed that a homemade explosive device detonated in the school lunchroom. Officials later found and destroyed a second homemade bomb.

Media reports cited witnesses saying that the attackers killed his victims with the shotgun. Investigators later confirmed that all the victims died in gunfire.

President Vladimir Putin of Russia called the attack a "tragic event" and offered condolences to the victims' families.

Russia seized Crimea from Ukraine in 2014, triggering sanctions from Western nations, which refuse to recognize the annexation.

With the AP