“The granddaughter was shot under the grandmother’s office”: how the victims of the Izhevsk shooter were buried

Psychologists arrived promptly. They brought the young man to his senses.

– This is the first time this has happened to me, – the teenager was embarrassed.

Following him, a woman of about fifty turned to the doctors: “Can I have something from the heart? I’m afraid it won’t last.”

The funeral of the teacher took place in an official setting. Take care of the city administration.

A funeral speech was read from a piece of paper by a representative of the ritual agency. “This is a lesson for all of us. Time to think. Natalya has left you, but her memory will remain…”.

The teachers said only a few words about her personal life: she was born in Izhevsk, graduated from the university, faculty of mathematics, worked at the school from the day it was founded, taught mathematics in high school.

At the end of the ceremony, the host added: “She was devoted to the profession to the end. We bow to heroism. That’s what the family would do. Motherland. Let’s bow down to her feet.” Those assembled bowed.

Then the woman asked those wishing to say kind words in memory of the deceased.

One of the students burst into tears: “We grew up with her, we dreamed together, we were sad together…”. Then a friend of the deceased took the microphone: “When Russian men flee abroad, women save children. Natalya Igorevna was a hero with a capital letter.

On the street, I approached a woman with a girl.

– Natalya Igorevna taught us mathematics that day, I can tell you how it was, – the schoolgirl suggested. “First we heard a roar. The teacher stopped to close the door. We were told to hide under the desks. We managed to climb in, and then he began to shoot at the door. Natalya Igorevna fell, lay down between the door and the wall so that he would not break through. He went anyway. And shot her. I saw her die. He also shot my classmate Eva, who did not have time to dive under the table. He shot her three times. And then he left. Although I saw that we were sitting in a pile under the desks.

– How did the children behave?

– Someone was crying, trembling. I kept calm. We began to remember how to call the police and an ambulance, but did not remember. They scored 112.

– Did you talk to psychologists?

– I do not need. Today we will go to the funeral of one boy, he is the son of my former kindergarten teacher. Then we will return here, say goodbye to my classmate …

I returned to the funeral hall.

The headmaster of the school took the floor: “We are petitioning for the award of a government award to Natalya Igorevna. She fulfilled her duty to the end. I apologize to my family for what happened.”

The teachers of the school where the tragedy occurred kept to themselves. After parting, they went out into the street, where once again they discussed what had happened among themselves.

“God saved our first “A”, by some miracle the shooter missed their office,” one of the women said. – After all, he went around almost all the offices, pulled every door except this one. Went up to the fourth floor. Somewhere shot, somewhere not …

One of the teachers read out the plan for the next day – who, where and what time they bury: “Farewells are being held all over the city, how to be in time for everyone.”

Then they raised an urgent question: “The school is still closed for distance learning. We were promised a major overhaul. When it starts, and even more so when it ends, there is no understanding. Now the children will be sent to a sanatorium. Then the senior and junior schools will be placed in neighboring educational institutions.”

“It doesn’t fit in my head how the inconspicuous Artem Kazantsev could commit such a crime,” one of the women was surprised. We remember him well. I can’t say that he studied, they pulled him with all his might. He just sat in class. Not everyone is given to study … Tomorrow we will bury the teacher of fine arts Svetlana Sukhanov and the rest …

Farewell to Natalia Vedernikova ended.

The teachers were left to wait for farewell to 11-year-old Eva, the same girl who was shot dead along with the math teacher.

“I sat with my daughter’s body for five hours”

During the break between farewells, I spoke with the employees of the ritual agency who accompanied the mourning ceremonies.

We provide all our services free of charge. For example, my company makes coffins. I did not take money from the families of the victims, – said the man.

– Isn’t the funeral at the expense of the state?

– Probably, they will allocate money, since they promised. But this is a long bureaucratic procedure, it is necessary to sign all the papers. It is no coincidence that on the Web, many organized a fundraiser for the funeral. That’s why we decided to help.

At this time, four people entered the ritual office.

– You can choose a wreath for a boy, he studied at our choreographic school …

They helped with the choice. “Just don’t take lilac, it’s not a child’s color, take better red and white, it’s more suitable for a boy,” the agency employee suggested.

“Now they will bury Eva, it’s strange why she wasn’t provided with an escort, it’s not clear who will take out the coffin,” the ritual services worker was perplexed. – Maybe they were offended that mom posted the video on the Web?

On the day of the tragedy, the mother of the deceased girl posted a video message on the social network. “I’m filming a video from the hospital,” the woman said. – Today my daughter was brought from school 88. She has three gunshot wounds. I was lied to at the reception. She died while receiving first aid. But for more than an hour they misled me and did not tell me what was happening to her.

At the moment, I have been next to her body in the corridor for more than five hours. They cannot tell us what will happen in the future, they will take her to the morgue or the police will come. Please don’t just leave it like that. We’re in a mess. Poor girl, why did she deserve this?

Netizens commented that employees of the Ministry of Health refute the statement.

Near the farewell hall, we talked with a friend of the mother who had lost her daughter.

“There was not a word of lies in her words,” the interlocutor asserted. – She could not find her daughter for a long time, they did not talk about her death for a long time. Even the body was not shown until the mother made a scandal. She really spent many hours in the hospital at a complete loss of what to do next …

Another acquaintance of the family joined the conversation: “The deceased Eva has a grandmother working in this school, she is a teacher. During the shooting, the woman was in room 201, and her granddaughter was shot right above her, in room 301. Mom still has three children, all boys, no more girls.”

The audience was invited to the funeral hall. Mostly older people here. A little later, my classmates came.

The host of the ceremony was the first to speak: “The whole city expresses its condolences. Eva lived with us and created. We wish mother good health and survive her grief. Two wreaths “From the Head of the Udmurt Republic” and “From the Government of the Udmurt Republic” were brought to the hall.

Near the coffin stood the mother of Eve with her husband. Old people surrounded her.

A man in secular clothes approached the microphone. Pretend to be a priest. He addressed the audience with a strange message: “We are all relatives to each other, life in heaven is much better than on earth. I recently buried my mother. And rejoiced, because there she is better. And my father-in-law, who was taken out of a coma several times, regretted: why did you return me to earth, it was so good there.

The congregation looked at each other. Someone could not stand it: “What is he carrying?”.

Then a family friend came out to the microphone: “My granddaughter went to kindergarten with Eva. I can’t understand how one freak could take so many lives…”.

The time allotted for parting was coming to an end.

– If you allow, we will sing again, – said the clergyman.

– It’s time to wrap up, – asked the employees of the ritual agency.

But the women brought by the clergyman sang anyway. A few more people in the hall were handing out books with sermons: “Take it, this is about what the priest was telling.” People refused.

There was no one to carry the coffin out of the hall.

“There is someone stronger, you need to carry the cross and the coffin to the hearse,” the same man who introduced himself as a priest turned.

The coffin was taken out. Next came the mother of the deceased, who held back her emotions, unlike her husband.

“Before school, the girl went to church to take communion”

On Wednesday, at the Church of the Holy Royal Martyrs, they said goodbye to seven-year-old Arina. This year the girl went to the first grade.

– This class got the most. A teacher, a girl and two boys died, – says the mother of a classmate of the deceased. – Their office was on the first floor, where there was a drawing lesson. In the death certificate they wrote: multiple injuries incompatible with life.

Parents spent the whole day looking for their daughter. We drove around all the kindergartens where the children ran, drove into the bank, where the children who had run away from school were hiding, to the hospital. Then they were told: go to the morgue for identification. The mother did not find the strength to go, she only saw her daughter today. The father recognized the child. The family was religious. They said that on that day, before school, Arina even went to church to take communion …

The farewell was over. An elderly man came out of the church in tears: “It is impossible to look at this. A tiny children’s coffin and in it an angel girl, like a doll.

Arina’s father could not rise from his knees, holding on to the coffin. The mother whispered something to her daughter. The clergyman hugged them: “It’s time.”

The hearse with the coffin left for the cemetery, where the victims of the tragedy were given a separate alley …