takers to believe that the school was being stormed. In response, they set off their bombs.
It was at this point that Russian Special Forces activated their action plan to storm the school to rescue any possible survivors. A disorganized battle broke out as the Special Forces sought to enter the school and cover the escape of the hostages. Some panicking Russian army recruits fled the scene while the Special Forces commandos blew holes in walls to allow hostages to escape. A massive level of force was used. The special forces, regular army, and Interior Ministry troops were all involved, as were helicopter gunships and at least one tank. Many local civilians also joined in the battle, having brought along their own weapons.
Afterwards, the Russian government defended the use of tanks and other heavy weaponry, arguing that it was used after surviving hostages escaped from the school; however, this contradicts eyewitness accounts and common sense, as many hostages were seriously wounded and could not possibly escape by themselves.
The attack was followed by large explosions of other detonating bombs and several Shmel fuel-air explosive rockets used by the government forces, which destroyed the gym and set much of the building on fire. By 3:00 p.m., two hours after the assault began, Russian troops claimed control of most of the school. Fighting, however, continued as evening fell, and three gunmen held up in the basement with a number of hostages. They, and the hostages they were holding, were eventually killed.
During the battle, a group of hostage-takers, approximately thirteen of them, broke through the military cordon and took refuge nearby. Two of those thirteen were reportedly women who allegedly attempted to blend into the crowd and escape disguised as medical personnel. The military cordon had been compromised as they’d permitted the passage of hostage’s relatives, dressed in civilian clothing and, in some cases, bearing firearms.
A few of the escapees were said to be cornered in a residential two-story house within 120 feet of the gym. Whether or not they had hostages was unknown. The house was destroyed using tanks and flamethrowers by 11:00 p.m., on September the third.
In the aftermath, Deputy Prosecutor General Alexander Fridinsky believed that thirty-one of the thirty-two attackers had been confirmed dead, and one had been captured. One suspected hostage-taker was beaten to death by the fathers of hostages when he was injured and being driven to the hospital. Another suspected terrorist was assassinated on the scene, an event filmed by the Sky News crew.
According to the official data, 331 civilians and eleven commandos died. At least one surviving female hostage committed suicide after returning home. Many other survivors remained in severe shock. Some injured survivors died in hospitals.
The Russian government has been heavily criticized by many locals who, days after the end of the siege, did not know whether their children were living or dead. Human remains were even found in the nearby garbage dump several months later, prompting further outrage.
During the operation, eleven Russian Soldiers of the special groups Alpha and Vympel were killed, among them the commander of Alpha. This was the highest casualty rate ever suffered in a single engagement in the history of these units. One of their members said they’d rescued children first, and the hostage-takers had then shot at their backs; that was why they’d suffered such high losses (another commando admitted shooting children used by the terrorists as human shields). In addition, many were accidentally hit by civilian militiamen, who either fired indiscriminately or mistook them for the hostage takers. Wounds of varying severity were received by more than thirty fighters of the OSNAZ Special Forces.
In May, 2005, the only known accused terrorist to survive the Beslan massacre was Nur-Pashi Kulayev. All local lawyers refused to defend Kulayev. Albert Pliyev was appointed, reluctantly, as his lawyer. The local people at the time wanted to either lynch the defendant or sentence him to the death penalty. Over 1,340 people act as the injured party on the trial. Kulayev was charged with murder, terrorism, kidnapping, and other crimes, and pled guilty on seven of the counts. Kulayev is said to be incarcerated in a high-security prison on the small lake island of Ognenny Ostrov in the Vologda region.
Afterword
In May of 2002, the Secret Service published a report that examined thirty-seven school shootings in the United States. They published the following findings:
* Incidents of targeted violence at schools were rarely sudden, impulsive acts.
* Prior to most incidents, other people knew about the attacker’s idea and/or plan to attack.
* Most attackers did not threaten their targets directly prior to advancing the attack.
* There is no accurate or useful profile of students who engaged in targeted school violence.
* Most attackers engaged in behavior prior to the incident that caused others concern, or indicated a need for help.
* Most attackers had difficulty coping with significant losses or personal failures.
* Many attackers had considered or attempted suicide.
* Many attackers felt bullied, persecuted, or injured by others prior to the attack.
* Most attackers had access to, and had used weapons, prior to the attack.
* In many cases, other students were involved in some capacity.
* Despite prompt law enforcement responses, most shooting incidents were stopped by means other than law enforcement intervention.
Preface
In this book, I have written about several doctors who have killed their patients, including Harold Shipman, Marcel Petiot, Michael Swango, H.H. Holmes, and John Bodkin Adams. These are only some of the dozens who have been convicted. It is amazing that these people chose a profession to help save lives, but preferred to kill.
The Hippocratic Oath is pledged by every physician, swearing to practice medicine in an ethical manner. In my opinion, doctors that kill are actually ‘Hypocrites,’ which the dictionary defines as “a person who acts in contradiction to his or her stated beliefs or feelings.” Is it not their job to curtail suffering and death? We sometimes put our lives in the hands of doctors, trusting that our best interests are the most important to them.
