ISIS has claimed responsibility for a horrific and deadly shooting on Sunday outside of a Russian church.
The violent event, which left five people dead, unfolded when a gunman described as being in his early 20s approached the church in Russia’s Dagestan region and started firing a hunting rifle, Fox News reported.
Parishioners were reportedly celebrating the end of the Maslenitsa festival, which signifies the start of Lent for Russian Orthodox Christians, when the gunman attacked.
ISIS Tells Muslim Followers To Kidnap And Murder Christians in Russia
The church’s priest, Father Pavel, later said that the man yelled “Allahu Akbar,” a phrase that means “God is great.”
“We had finished the Mass and were beginning to leave the church,” Father Pavel said. “A bearded man ran towards the church shouting, ‘Allahu akbar.’”
Напавший на церковь в Кизляре шел пешком с ружьем через весь город — ВИДЕО: https://t.co/ckdgczqx0u pic.twitter.com/X4ebKnK4R2
— РЕН ТВ | Новости (@rentvchannel) February 18, 2018
Russian police killed the man after exchanging gunfire, but not before the assailant murdered five people and injured a number of others, including two police officers.
