'Kazan school shooting has shaken all of us'

Moscow: Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday said that the deadly school shooting in Kazan has shaken the country and ordered the government to revise school security protocols and tighten control over civilian gun ownership.

The tragedy has definitely shaken all of us, Putin said, speaking at a meeting with government officials via video link Thursday.

All of Russia... stands with Tatarstan, with Kazan residents, in the difficult days.

A gunman on Tuesday morning attacked a school in Kazan, a city 430 miles (700 kilometers) east of Moscow, sending students hiding under their desks or running out of the building.

Nine people seven students and two school employees were killed, and more than 20 others were hospitalized with injuries.

Three wounded children remain in grave condition, Health Minister Mikhail Murashko told Putin at the government meeting Thursday.

The authorities gave no motive as to why Ilnaz Galyaviyev, 19, who was arrested in the shooting, carried out the attack at the school he reportedly used to attend.

He appeared in court Wednesday, charged with murder, and was ordered to pre-trial detention for two months. Officials said he legally owned a firearm. Putin said Thursday that in order to prevent attacks like the one in Kazan, the authorities need to seriously raise the requirements for civilian gun owners and tighten control over civilian gun

circulation.