Who Are the Deranged Teens Responsible for Perm, Russia School Stabbing Attack?

Natalaya Shagulina, the Perm schoolteacher who was injured as she tried to save her students amid the knifing attack at Perm's School #127 by two teens will undergo a second operation Tuesday night, and remains in serious condition, Perm Region's Ministry of Health has reported. Her condition has been upgraded slightly after she began breathing independently of an artificial respirator. Shagulina and over a dozen fourth-graders were seriously injured in Monday's senseless violence.

The two teen suspects, one a pupil of the school and the second a former student, were apprehended, with a criminal case opened against both on charges of attempted murder of two or more persons. 

The two teens had reportedly planned the attack carefully, entering the school and breaking into a classroom, where they proceeded to attack Shagulina and her students in an attempt at a Columbine-style murder spree. A parent of one of the students dismissed earlier reports that the suspects were fighting each other, or that teachers and students sustained their injuries as they tried to break up the fight.

"Two guys in black masks entered the classroom and without further ado began cutting the teacher's throat. This is what my daughter told me," a mother of one of the students said.

Security officers, police and members of the National Guard arrived at the scene to apprehend the suspects, who had been disarmed by a private security guard.

Early reports suggested that one of the suspects was previously registered at a psycho-neurological clinic, used illegal drugs, and had a fascination with Columbine killers Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, evidenced by the list of saved videos in his VKontakte social media page.

Speaking to reporters on Tuesday, Perm region children's ombudswoman Svetlana Denisova confirmed that the teen had a psychological disorder. "The parents of this child brought a certificate from a special medical and psychological commission to the school, and got the school to agree to special individual instruction for him," she said.

"He spent five years in such instruction. It's known that his parents had difficulties handling him, although outwardly the family seemed prosperous, including in the material sense," the ombudswoman added.  "Last April, while he was still studying at the school, his parents called the police when the teen got into an incident in an intoxicated state. After this he was put on an internal register. After leaving school, he entered study at a technical school, but had problems there, too."

The other assailant's motives remain a mystery. A friend described him as a calm and reasonable teen whose only real passion was computer games. The friend suggested that he may have fallen under the influence of the older teen.

The causes and motives for the knifing attack will be established in the course of the investigation. The case has been transferred to the Main Investigation Department of the Russian Investigative Committee.

As of Tuesday, 15 people, including schoolteacher Natalaya Shagulina, were injured in Monday's attack. 12 of them have been hospitalized. On Tuesday, education minister Olga Vasilieva thanked Shagulina for her bravery and called her a "teacher with a capital T."

Natalia Shagulina, the teacher who defended the children during the attack, is now in serious condition in the hospital. She has lost a lot of blood and undergone surgery.