4 children injured in Russia by teenager with air gun

A teenage boy attacked a group of children with a pneumatic gun, injuring four, in Ulyanovsk in central Russia, the regional prosecutor's office said Monday.

"Several children were playing in a yard when an unknown person started to shoot at them late Sunday," deputy prosecutor Vasilii Zima said.

The four injured, two boys and two girls aged from seven to 15, sustained minor wounds. They were taken to a hospital and received medical assistance before being released.

Police detained a 13-year-old boy suspected of carrying out the attack.

The teenager confessed he had argued with one of the girls a week earlier, Ulyanovsk regional police's spokesman Alexei Ryzhov said.

The teenager purchased a pneumatic gun with the help of an adult acquaintance and concealed it from his parents, the spokesperson said.

Under Russia's criminal code, first-time offenders aged under 14 are immune from criminal prosecution. If found guilty, the boy can only be put on a watch list of potential offenders.