At least 40 Killed, 100 Injured in Mass Shooting Outside Moscow

A group of armed men opened fire at a concert hall in a Moscow suburb on Friday night, killing at least 40 people and injuring 100 others, according to Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB).
A video shared online showed at least two masked men entering the Crocus City Hall, with one repeatedly firing shots from what appeared to be an assault rifle. Another graphic video showed four men, with at least three carrying weapons, chasing a group of people and firing at them point blank. 
Footage published by the state-run TASS news agency showed a large fire at Crocus City Hall, which is located around 16 kilometers northwest of the center of Moscow.
Shortly following initial news reports of the shooting, Moscow region Governor Andrei Vorobyov said he had arrived at the scene and was leading response efforts to the incident.
More than 70 ambulance teams were working near Crocus City Hall and medics were helping those who had been injured, Vorobyov said.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that President Vladimir Putin was informed of the attack “within the first few minutes” and that he was receiving constant updates on the situation.
Spetznaz and riot police units were sent in response to the incident, the TASS news agency reported, while a video later shared by news outlets showed law enforcement officers encircling the concert hall.
Russian Interior Minister Vladimir Kolokoltsev also arrived at the scene, the state-run RIA Novosti news agency reported. 
A video published by the independent news outlet Sotavision showed riot police shouting and pointing their weapons at journalists and camera crews who were trying to cover the events outside the concert hall, physically pushing them away from the area.
According to a journalist who was at Crocus City Hall during the time of the attack, a grenade or an incendiary bomb was thrown after the shooting broke out and caused a fire.
“People in the hall were lying down on the floor to escape from the shooting, lying between 15 and 20 minutes, after which they began to crawl out. Many managed to get out,” the unnamed journalist was quoted as saying by RIA Novosti.
Emergency services said they were working to evacuate people from Crocus City Hall.
“Around 100 people have been evacuated from the basement by firefighters. Work is ongoing to save people from the roof of the building with lifting equipment,” the Moscow region’s branch of the Emergency Situations Ministry wrote on Telegram.
Up to 6,200 people may have been inside the concert hall at the time of the attack, according to a seating plan of the venue.
Members of Piknik, the band performing at Crocus City Hall on Friday night, were not injured, the concert’s director said.
Russia’s Investigative Committee, which probes major crimes, said it opened a criminal terrorism case into the incident.
Meanwhile, Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said he had given orders to provide assistance to those affected by Friday evening’s shooting. 
“A terrible tragedy happened today at the Crocus City shopping center. My condolences to the victims’ loved ones,” he said, adding later that all public events in the Russian capital had been canceled for the weekend.
Similarly, the White House sent its condolences to the victims of the shooting, saying it was trying to get more information.
“Our thoughts are with the victims of this terrible shooting attack,” National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told reporters. “The images are just horrible and just hard to watch.”
This is a breaking news story.
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