The mother of a schoolboy crippled by the Izhevsk shooter: “I exploded in court”

There are new details from the life of Artyom Kazantsev, who staged a mass execution in Izhevsk school No. 88 and committed suicide. As it became known, fourteen years ago, Kazantsev had already attempted on a 12-year-old student of the same school. The guy miraculously survived. We spoke with the mother of the victim, who claims that the current tragedy could have been prevented.

Recently, a video of Konstantin Matrosov appeared on the Web. The man shared his memories: “I am a graduate of school No. 88. In 2008, Artyom Kazantsev attempted to assassinate me. It was in December. He ran up to me on the street and stabbed me in the back, after which he disappeared. During the trial, he was acquitted. He was not sent for compulsory treatment, because he was undergoing outpatient treatment – this was considered sufficient.”

We talked with Konstantin’s mother about those events.

– It’s still hard for me to remember that time, – says Elena Matrosova. – My son then survived miraculously. Kostya was twelve years old. He was returning home. A man passed by, turned around abruptly and stabbed his son in the back. Kostya fell. There was no one nearby. He got up with all his strength, shouting: “Help.” One of the passers-by picked him up and dragged him home.

We called an ambulance. While waiting for the doctors, I was afraid that Kostya would bleed to death. I talked to him so that he would not lose consciousness.

When the doctors arrived, they asked me for a long time how it all happened. I began to resent that they would do something faster with their son, to which they answered me: there is no need to hysteria.

The attacker was quickly identified, as if his mother herself came to the police with a confession.

Later it turned out that on the same day Kazantsev attacked an elderly woman. But her wound was not so deep, the patient was released from the hospital.

My Kostya was in the hospital for a long time. The doctor said that it was lucky that the knife rested on the spine, there were millimeters to the vital organs. We had to repeatedly do MRI, the hematoma resolved for a long time.

Psychologically, my son had a hard time. He was afraid to leave the house. On the street, he kept looking back. After all, we lived in the same yard with Kazantsev. The son often met with him and his grandmother.

– What happened in court?

– At the trial, I demanded that Kazantsev be punished, sent for compulsory treatment. His mother threatened, “It’s in your best interest to forgive him.” Grandmother Kazantsev brought to court a bunch of positive characteristics for her grandson, defended him. She said how good he is. Justified by the fact that on that day he refused to take medicine. Grandmother held out the pills, he pushed her away, grabbed a knife and ran out into the street.

– How did Kazantsev behave in court?

He sat with his head down. When he was given the floor, he said that he regretted what had happened and did not remember anything. The lawyer defended him – they say, after all, he did not kill anyone. When they said in court that my son suffered minor bodily harm, I exploded …

As a result, Kazantsev was released with the wording: he is sick, such people are not punished. We were not paid any compensation (Kazantsev was registered with the PND with a diagnosis of schizophrenia – “MK”). The matter was quickly hushed up. Psychologists were not provided to my son. And our family no longer had the moral strength to fight.

– Do you still live in this area?

– Yes. Moreover, my grandchildren study at school No. 88. One of the grandchildren did not go to school that day, he stayed at home after an illness. A teacher and a classmate died in his class. The second is a first-grader, he saw all this horror with his own eyes. He said that he ran from school literally over lifeless bodies, saving his life.

Now the school is closed, the grandchildren are sitting at home. We don’t know how to proceed further.

I believe that if fourteen years ago the competent authorities, doctors, Kazantsev’s parents reacted responsibly to what happened, this tragedy could have been prevented.

I wrote an appeal to the head of the Udmurt Republic so that the investigators would look into the tragedy, take into account our history and ask the judges who once released Kazantsev a question.

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