5 dead in church shooting in Russia; police kill suspect

MOSCOW (AP) — Russian media are reporting that a gunman opened fire with a hunting rifle on churchgoers leaving a service in the Dagestan region, killing five people and wounding four others.

Police then killed the assailant.

The shooting took place Sunday evening in Kizlyar, a town of about 50,000 people on the border with Chechnya.

Four people were reported dead at the scene and state news agency Tass cited regional health ministry spokeswoman Zalina Murtazalieva as saying a fifth person died at a hospital.

The motive for the shooting was not immediately known.

Dagestan is a predominantly Muslim region between Chechnya and the Caspian Sea.

Following two separatist wars in neighbouring Chechnya, an Islamist insurgency spread to Dagestan.