Qualla: Perm State University Shooting

Perm State University Shooting: Introduction

Fri, 27 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Students in the upper floors of Building 8 at Perm State University heard the shots and did what no lecture had prepared them for. They shoved desks and chairs against classroom doors. Others climbed out windows, dropping to the ground below. It was a Monday morning, September 20, 2021, and an 18-year-old law student named Timur Bekmansurov had walked onto campus carrying a shotgun, 131 rounds of ammunition, and a black T-shirt printed with the words 'No Mercy.'

Perm State University Shooting: Eleven Minutes

Fri, 27 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

At 10:30 that morning, Bekmansurov ordered a taxi. He carried a bag containing the shotgun, ammunition, and a military-style helmet. The driver noticed his mask and made a joke about it. After arriving near campus, Bekmansurov hid beside a building on Genkelya Street, removed his...

Perm State University Shooting: The People Who Were Lost

Fri, 27 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Six people died that morning. Yaroslav Aramelev, 19, a physics student, was killed first in the courtyard. Margarita Engaus, 66, had come to the university with her grandson for an excursion. Ksenia Samchenko, 18, and Ekaterina Shakirova, 19, were both geography students killed t...

Perm State University Shooting: A Pattern Repeated

Fri, 27 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

The shooting came just four months after a gunman killed nine people at a school in Kazan. That earlier attack had prompted legislation raising the legal age to purchase firearms from 18 to 21, but the new law had not yet taken effect. Perm State University had no panic button at...

Perm State University Shooting: Trial and Memory

Fri, 27 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Bekmansurov, who was shot and detained during the attack, was diagnosed with schizoid personality disorder but declared legally sane. At trial, testimony revealed he had told a former teacher that he admired Hitler and had studied the tactics of other mass killers. He described h...