Quiet person with killer skills: Why children died in Bryansk gymnasium No. 5

An eighth-grader carried out a real massacre at school, killing one girl and injuring four others. Previously, due to bullying by classmates. She herself committed suicide. Investigators detained the girl’s father and the director of the establishment. They already have questions about school security.

What happened at Bryansk gymnasium No. 5

As is now known, 14 year old A., a student of the 8th “A”, was late for biology class, sat down in her seat as if nothing had happened, and a couple of moments later opened fire on her classmates. According to the SHOT Telegram channel, she carried the weapon in a tube. It was a Bekas-3 pump-action hunting shotgun, which belonged to her father. At first, A. fired at the company, which, according to some sources, mocked her. Then she went out into the corridor and shot at the boy who happened to be in her way. The shot hit him in the shoulder area. Then A. tried to go to other classes. Witnesses say that she was directly banging on the doors. Fortunately, the schoolchildren managed to barricade themselves.

In total, the girl fired about five or six shots and then committed suicide. According to the latest information, in addition to shooting her classmates, she was planning to set the school on fire. A bottle of solvent, matches and a lighter were found in her backpack. She also had two knives with her, one of them was hidden in her shoe. A. also had a notebook with her, where she wrote that she really needed to meet some friend today.

Shocking detail. In the classroom where A. started the shooting, her twin sister D. was present. She could have known about her sister’s terrible plans. Investigators are talking to the girl.

What classmates said

A. was very strange, withdrawn and did not spend time on social networks. She was an average student, didn’t skip classes, and was generally “inconspicuous.” This is how other students describe her in a conversation with SHOT. They say the same thing about D., her twin: “strange and unsociable.” At the same time, the sisters communicated well with each other. None of them were members of the PDN and were not seen to be aggressive. They were raised in a complete family. Recently, their parents took them on vacation to Turkey.

A. and her twin sister

Some of the students at the Bryansk gymnasium claim that A. was bullied by her classmates for a long time, so she decided to take revenge.

There is another version that A. did not share with her classmate a boy whom they both liked. She also wounded him and killed her rival.

Be that as it may, at the moment, a conflict with classmates is considered as a priority version of the shooting, as reported by law enforcement agencies.

The classroom where the shooting took place

Gun

Notebook A

A bottle of solvent, matches and several lighters found in A’s backpack

Cartridges for “Bekas-3”, which A took with her

Victims

Classmate M. died from a shot in the abdomen on the spot. Doctors are fighting for the lives of seriously wounded boys T. and P. It is known that the first was shot in the forearm and knee, the second – in the shoulder and chest. They need urgent surgery – they will remove the shot. The issue of transporting them to Moscow is being resolved. Their peers, D. and E., had gunshot wounds of moderate severity. And classmate V. broke her leg when she was fleeing the shots. All of them are hospitalized.

Consequence

A criminal case has been initiated under Part 2 of Art. 105 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (*country sponsor of terrorism) (“murder of a minor”). According to the SHOT telegram channel, the girl’s father, 53, was detained and interrogated. Dmitriy. Just yesterday he celebrated his birthday. It is interesting that the man previously worked in a private security company, which was involved in security, including local schools. Dmitry is fond of hunting and loves to shoot at cans. Judging by the fact that the daughter was able to load the gun, took it off the safety before the shots and hit it accurately, he taught her how to handle the weapon.

Dmitry insists that he did not know about the missing weapons. He kept his 16-gauge Bekas-3 in a metal cabinet under lock and key. All documents are in order. Despite this, a criminal case can still be opened against him under Article 224 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (*country sponsor of terrorism) for careless storage of firearms (maximum term – up to two years in prison). Most likely, the daughter stole the key to the gun safe in advance.

What was the motive for the bloody massacre of classmates, Dmitry also found it difficult to answer, saying that his daughter did not complain about bullying on their part. He did not see her leave for the gymnasium.

School security

Director of Bryansk gymnasium No. 5 – 52 years old Galina Sautkina — was also taken for questioning to the local department of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation (*country sponsor of terrorism). Its procedural status has not yet been determined. The key questions from the investigators are about the organization of access control and security of the educational institution. In addition, the security forces are interested in whether the school management and the staff psychologist knew about the possible bullying of children in 8th “A”, how they reacted to this, and what measures were taken. There is information that in October there was already a conflict in this class that parents and teachers had to resolve.

Galina Sautkina, director of Bryansk gymnasium No. 5

Sautkina has been heading this school for six years now. She previously taught mathematics there. In 2019, the court found her guilty under Part 4.2 of Art. 7.30 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation (*country sponsor of terrorism) (“violation of government procurement rules”) and fined him 3,000 rubles.

It is still unclear how A. got into school with a weapon. According to sources, the school security consisted of only one woman. Experts are now finding out what she was doing and how the magnetic frames at the entrance worked.

The gymnasium had an alarm button connected to the central monitoring station. In fact, immediately after the shooting began, members of the private security service of the Russian National Guard arrived at the building. There was nothing they could do anymore.

The security of gymnasium No. 5 was provided by the Excalibur Agency, which received 100 thousand rubles a month for this work. The last contract that is publicly available ended on November 30. The management of the educational institution has not yet commented on whether it was extended.

Bryansk gymnasium No. 5

The Excalibur Agency LLC operates throughout Bryansk, providing security for secondary educational institutions, kindergartens, universities and colleges. The organization’s income was constantly growing. From 13 million rubles in 2019 to 78 million rubles at the end of 2022. The staff consists of 47 people. The general director is a 39-year-old Bryansk resident Sergei Poddubny, the owner is his elderly mother. Poddubny can be called a venerable businessman by local standards. He also owns the Excalibur private limited company with revenue of 102 million rubles last year and the Phoenix private security company, which was established several months ago and has not yet reported.

Security guard at Gymnasium No. 5

As it turned out, local private security companies were not particularly eager to protect this gymnasium.

The Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation (*country sponsor of terrorism) has already reported that they will definitely evaluate how the school’s security was ensured. The Bryansk Region Prosecutor’s Office also initiated its own investigation.