On Wednesday, October 17th, twenty people were killed and fifty people were injured during a shooting at Kerch Polytechnic College in Crimea, a territory of Russia. The shooter was identified by Russia’s Investigative Committee as Vladislav Roslykov, an eighteen year old student of the college. He was caught on security camera footage and was later found in the library, dead by gunshot.

The Russian authorities had originally put out conflicting reports of what happened at Kerch, and an air of confusion about the actual events still lingers. The attack was initially reported as terrorism, with claims that an “unidentified explosive device” was used. However, only hours later, it was reported that it was a shooting. Crimean official Igor Mikhailichenko stated, “A shooting took place after the explosion.” Later, the motive was released by Russian media, which announced that he was looking to “get revenge” on teachers he was angry with.

Though officials say that Roslykov acted alone, many Crimean residents think otherwise. Sergei Vagin said to Channel News Asia, “It’s impossible that there was only one person. It was a terrorist attack. They say it was a mass shooting but I don’t believe it.” The school’s director, Olga Grebennikova, said, “It was a real terrorist attack, like in Beslan” (referring to the 2004 terrorist attack by Islamist militants which killed over 330 people at a school). Needless to say, the attack has incited fear within the community.

Once American news outlets got ahold of the story, comparisons to the 1999 Columbine school shootings were almost immediately drawn. The Guardian takes notice of Roslykov’s white t-shirt and black pants, similar to what Eric Harris wore. That attack led to several copycat attacks around the world, however, shootings like this are rare in Russia due to stricter gun regulations.

Russian President Vladimir Putin blamed the attack on the United States, saying mass shooting began there and spread throughout the world because of the internet. He stated, at a forum in the Black Sea city of Sochi, “By all appearances this is the result of localization, as strange as that may seem… Everything started with well-known tragic events in schools in the United States. Young people with unstable minds create false heroes for themselves.”

An official three-day mourning period was held, and the Russian government has promised free medical care to the victims of the attack and financial support for their families.