Russia: Shooting at kindergarten leaves three dead

An armed man opened fire at a kindergarten in central Russia on Tuesday, killing two children and a teacher, before then committing suicide.

The incident occurred in the town of Veshkayma in Russia's Ulyanovsk region.

"According to preliminary information there was a shooting in a kindergarten. As a result, two children, a teacher and the attacker died," the head of the Ulyanovsk region information department, Dmitry Kamal, told news agency AFP.

It was not immediately known how old the young victims were, but they would be between three and six years old, Kamal said.

Teacher wounded

Another teacher was wounded and is receiving medical help, Ulyanovsk Governor Aleksey Russkikh said.

"I express my deep condolences to the families and friends of the victims. This is an irreplaceable loss for all of us," Russkikh said in a statement.

Last year two separate mass shootings occurred at educational institutions in Russia — one at a school in the city of Kazan and the other at Perm State University— prompting Russia to tighten its gun laws. 

jsi/rs (AFP, Reuters, AP)