A high-school student brandishing a knife and an ax wounded three fellow students in the northern Kazakh city of Petropavl on February 13, while authorities evacuated two other schools in the city amid a raft of recent threats.
The alleged attacker reportedly emerged from a bathroom, where the ninth-grader had changed clothes and put on a mask, and attacked the three students before classes had started at the city's Secondary School No. 4 on February 13.
The teenaged attacker "jumped into the hallway and started swinging his ax at students," an eyewitness was quoted as saying by the local news website Petropavl News.
"He aimed at [one boy's] heart. The boy raised his arms to protect himself," said the unidentified eyewitness, who was reportedly a student at the school.
Two of the victims suffered stab wounds to the head and forearm and were hospitalized, according to officials, while the third victim was treated for injuries at the scene before being taken to the hospital.
All three victims, two boys and one girl, were reportedly conscious and in stable condition after receiving treatment. Reports indicated that the victims were ninth- and tenth-graders.
The regional prosecutor's office has launched a criminal investigation into attempted murder and said the suspect had been undergoing psychiatric care ahead of the attack. The circumstances of the attack are being examined, according to the prosecutor's office, including the actions by the school's administration.
Law enforcement officials announced the same day that two other schools in Petropavl, a city of about 200,000 near Kazakhstan's border with Russia, were evacuated following the incident.
More than 950 students at Secondary School No. 34 were evacuated after a threat about an explosive device was sent to the school's e-mail, Tengrinews reported. No explosive devices were found during the subsequent search. More than 1,000 people at Secondary School No. 35 were also evacuated, although it was not clear why.
Last week, two other schools in Pavlodar were evacuated after receiving e-mailed threats that proved to be false alarms. On February 10, the teachers and students of 20 schools in the eastern city of Oskemen were evacuated due to threats of planted explosives.
Following the attack at Secondary School No. 4 on February 13, the Education Ministry established a special commission to establish what happened, noting that the school was equipped with CCTV cameras and a panic button to ensure security.
Security checks will be conducted at all schools around the country in the wake of the attack, according to the national Committee for the Protection of Children's Rights.
Violent school attacks in Kazakhstan are rare, although similar attacks have taken place in fellow former Soviet republics Russia and Belarus.