Child stabbed to death by fellow student in Russian school

A man crosses a bridge in the Gorki Park, in Moscow, Russia, Wednesday, Dec. 16, 2020. (AP Photo/Pavel Golovkin)

MOSCOW, Russia -- A 10-year-old was stabbed to death at a school in Russia by an older pupil on Tuesday, the authorities said, adding that a suspect had been detained.

“Police received a report that a student had stabbed a security guard, sprayed pepper spray and then stabbed a 10-year-old student, who died from their wound,” local police said on Telegram.

The statement added that “the attacker was detained” and was now in custody after the attack in Gorki-2, a village west of Moscow in the Odintsovo district.

Russia’s main investigative body, the Investigative Committee, said the suspect was a 15-year-old.

“The motive for the crime is being determined,” it said on Telegram, adding it opened a probe into the incident.

Armed attacks in Russian schools were once a rarity but have become more frequent in recent years.

Last year, a teenage student wounded four people with a hammer in the southern Russian city of Chelyabinsk.

A 14-year-old girl opened fire at a school in the southwestern city of Bryansk in December 2023, killing a classmate before taking her own life.