A Russian court has sentenced a 21-year-old man to life in prison for one of the country’s worst school shootings in recent times, Interfax reported Thursday.
Ilnaz Galyaviyev opened fire at pupils attending his own former high school in the city of Kazan, the capital of the central Russian republic of Tatarstan, on May 11, 2021, killing seven students, two teachers, and injuring another 139 people.
Galyaviyev, 21, finished School No. 175, where the tragedy took place, six years ago and had been expelled from a local technical college for his poor academic record a short time before he carried out the shooting.
Tatarstan’s Supreme Court on Thursday found Galyaviyev guilty on five counts of murder, attempted murder, illegal production of explosives, and the illegal acquisition, storage, and transportation of explosives.
Galyaviyev pleaded guilty on all five counts and the prosecutors requested the court sentence him to life imprisonment.
The Kazan tragedy was Russia’s 10th school shooting in just seven years and led to calls for a crackdown on gun ownership and tighter internet censorship amid rising gun violence.
There is no constitutional right to bear arms in Russia and aspiring gun owners are required to pass a psychological examination and complete a trial period of shotgun ownership before being allowed to acquire a rifle.