MOSCOW, December 19 (RAPSI, Diana Gutsul) – Investigation into a rampage at a Moscow high school in February that left two dead falters as no ballistics analysis was made due to procedural error, a lawyer representing victims, Igor Trunov, told RAPSI on Friday.
Moscow's Butyrsky District Court on Thursday questioned a police officer who said that police officers who were at the crime scene fired two accidental shots.
Investigators found only one bullet, Trunov said. He added that no ballistics analysis was made as a request had not been filed.
A geography teacher and a police officer were killed in the rampage. The most important question in this regard is the distance from which the teacher was shot, Trunov said.
The next hearing in the case has been scheduled for January 15.
On February 3, Sergey Gordeev, 15, made his way into the school with a rifle by threatening a guard who immediately called the police. Gordeev barged into a classroom where the geography teacher was giving a lesson and fatally shot him, holding about 20 students hostage, according to investigators.
He also allegedly shot a police officer who arrived on the scene and wounded another one. Gordeev was detained and officially charged with murder, intent to commit murder, and taking of hostages. Gordeev pleaded partially guilty.
One of the students told the LifeNews television network that the attacker was one of the best students in the class and was not involved in any conflicts at school, including with the murdered teacher. However, Kommersant newspaper said the student was angry at the teacher for preventing him from being awarded a gold medal for academic performance. Investigators reported that the suspect fired no less than 11 shots, wielding two carbines that were legally registered to his father.
In accordance with the Russian Criminal Code, underage criminals face a maximum sentence of ten years in a juvenile correctional facility.
Following the above incident, Russian lawmakers adopted a number of new laws, including a ban on violent videogames and scenes of child violence on TV.