safari land shooting

Shooter at Villa Park amusement park opened fire with several children ‘just feet away,’ prosecutors say

Meco norris, 25, pulled out a gun and shot a man three times saturday evening at safari land indoor amusement park, prosecutors say..

Safari Land indoor amusement park at 701 North Ave. in Villa Park.

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A Chicago man was ordered held on $1 million bail for allegedly shooting a man Saturday evening at a Villa Park amusement park in the presence of several young children.

Meco Norris, 25, pulled out a gun and shot a man three times at Safari Land indoor amusement park, 701 North Ave., according to the DuPage County state’s attorney’s office.

The man was taken to a hospital with gunshots to his chest, shoulder and elbow and was released that evening. Prosecutors did not say what led up to the shooting.

After the shooting, Norris ran into a residential area and was arrested around 3 a.m. Sunday at a home in Chicago, police said.

The shooting happened in the presence of several children, DuPage County State’s Attorney Robert Berlin said.

“Mr. Norris’ alleged actions, with multiple children literally just feet away, demonstrate the most horrifying disregard for public safety I have seen in my 30-plus years as a prosecutor,” Berlin said in a statement.

There were also hundreds of other people inside the venue who witnessed the shooting, Villa Park Police Chief Michael Rivas said.

“While one person was physically harmed in this incident, there are hundreds of more victims, from very young children to grandparents, who will bear scars emotionally and psychologically for a long time,” Rivas said in the statement.

Norris, who lives in the Logan Square neighborhood, faces a counts of attempted first-degree murder, aggravated battery with a firearm and reckless discharge of a firearm.

His next court date is Dec. 17.

Watch CBS News

Meco Norris, 25, Charged In Shooting At Safari Land Indoor Amusement Park; Bond Set At $1 Million

November 15, 2021 / 12:30 PM CST / CBS Chicago

CHICAGO (CBS)-- A Chicago man has been charged in the shooting inside Safari Land in Villa Park Saturday evening that left one person injured.

Meco Norris, 25, appeared in court Monday where his bond was set at $1,000,000. He's charged with attempt murder, aggravated battery and reckless discharge of a firearm.

According to police, Norris was seen running into the residential area near Lincoln and Roy following the shooting at the indoor family amusement center located in the Villa DuPage Shopping Center at 701 W. North Ave.

Police were actively searching for the suspect around 8:30 p.m. and warned people to stay away from the area. Norris was arrested at his house Sunday. Police called the incident a "very targeted" shooting.

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Villa Park Police Seek Suspect in Shooting at Safari Land Indoor Amusement Park

At least one person was shot and taken to the hospital in unknown condition, police stated.

Published November 13, 2021 • Updated on November 13, 2021 at 9:30 pm

Police in suburban Villa Park on Saturday were searching for the person responsible for a shooting that injured at least one person at the Safari Land indoor amusement park, authorities said in a social media post.

As of approximately 8 p.m., police officers remained on scene at the indoor amusement park, 701 North Ave. and continued "actively searching for the suspect."

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Following the incident, police were looking for a man last seeing running into a residential area near Lincoln and Roy.

People are being asked to avoid the area and call 911 if they see anything suspicious.

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1 person wounded in shooting at Safari Land in Villa Park; suspect in custody

1 person wounded in shooting at safari land in villa park; suspect at-large.

A suspect is being sought in a shooting that wounded one person Saturday night at an indoor amusement park in west suburban Villa Park.

VILLA PARK, Ill. - A suspect is in custody after a shooting wounded one person at an indoor amusement park in west suburban Villa Park Saturday night. 

Shots were fired about 7 p.m. at Safari Land indoor amusement park at 701 North Ave., Villa Park police said in a statement.

A male victim was shot three times and was transported to a local hospital with non-life threatening injuries, according to a post on Villa Park Police Department's Facebook page .

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The suspect fled in a white 2020 Jeep with Chicago tags. The vehicle was abandoned a short time later.

At 3:05 a.m. Sunday, Villa Park police announced that the suspect was at a residence in Chicago and was taken into custody.

Villa Park police search for suspect in shooting at Safari Land amusement center

1 person shot with non-life threatening injuries, police say

VILLA PARK (WLS) -- Police in Villa Park are searching for a suspect wanted in connection with a shooting at Safari Land Saturday night.

The Indoor family entertainment center is located at 701 W. North Avenue.

One person was shot with non-life threatening injuries, according to the Villa Park Police Department.

The suspect was wearing a black jacket with white writing, blue jeans, and a black baseball cap was last seen running into the residential area near Lincoln and Roy, according to police.

Police asked the public to stay away from the area and urged anyone with information to call 911.

This is a developing story, check back for updates.

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Safari Land shooting: Suspect caught in Villa Park incident

A 25-year-old Chicago man was charged with shooting another in a west suburban indoor amusement park over the weekend.

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Local News | Person in custody following shooting at Safari…

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Local News | Person in custody following shooting at Safari Land in Villa Park

The shooting took place shortly before 7 p.m. at the amusement center, located in the 700 block of West North Avenue, Michael Rivas, Villa Park’s police chief, said in an email.

One person was injured in the shooting, officials said. A man was shot three times and suffered injuries that were not considered life-threatening, Villa Park police said on social media. The man was being treated at a hospital, police said.

Shortly after 3 a.m. Sunday, Villa Park police announced on Facebook that the department, along with the Chicago Police Department, had taken a suspect into custody at his residence in Chicago.

No charges had been announced Sunday.

The shooting remained under investigation.

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Hudson Bill to Protect Recreation Access for Hunters and Anglers Passes House

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Yesterday, the U.S. House of Representatives passed Rep. Richard Hudson's (NC-09) Protecting Access for Hunters and Anglers Act (H.R. 615). This legislation will prohibit the Secretary of the Interior or the Secretary of Agriculture from banning the use of lead ammunition or tackle on federal lands and waters unless such regulation is consistent with state law and supported by science. Rep. Hudson released the following statement on the passage of this important legislation.

"Sportsmen and women play a critical role in conserving America's lands and wildlife," said Rep. Hudson. "The Biden Administration's proposed ban on lead ammunition and fishing tackle will hurt our conservationists' ability to do what they do best, and I have been proud to lead on this commonsense legislation with my friend, Rep. Rob Wittman, in order to stop it."

Last year, Rep. Hudson joined Rep. Rob Wittman (VA-01) and nearly 50 of his colleagues in introducing the bill.

Background : In November 2022, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) entered into settlement negotiations with activist litigants like the Center for Biological Diversity (CBD) over a lawsuit regarding the use of traditional ammunition and lead on over 3 million acres of federal land. On Oct. 27, 2023, the Biden administration issued a final rule to prohibit the use of lead ammunition and tackle in eight national wildlife refuges. The concern over the potential ban of lead ammunition and tackle is due to the fact that lead ammunition is easier and cheaper to make and more readily available for consumers. Banning its use would make hunting less accessible by increasing the financial barriers for sportsmen and women.

Supporting organizations:  Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation, American Sportfishing Association, Backcountry Hunters and Anglers, National Shooting Sports Foundation, and Safari Club International.

Read the full bill text here .

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Russia says 60 dead, 145 injured in concert hall raid; Islamic State group claims responsibility

Russia’s Federal Security Service says at least 60 people were killed and more than 100 were wounded in an attack at a Moscow concert hall. The Islamic State group has claimed responsibility for the attack.

Russia’s Federal Security Service says at least 40 people were killed and more than 100 were wounded in a mass shooting at a Moscow concert hall.

A Russian Rosguardia (National Guard) servicemen secures an area as a massive blaze seen over the Crocus City Hall on the western edge of Moscow, Russia, Friday, March 22, 2024. Several gunmen have burst into a big concert hall in Moscow and fired automatic weapons at the crowd, injuring an unspecified number of people and setting a massive blaze in an apparent terror attack days after President Vladimir Putin cemented his grip on the country in a highly orchestrated electoral landslide. (AP Photo/Dmitry Serebryakov)

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A massive blaze is seen over the Crocus City Hall on the western edge of Moscow, Russia, Friday, March 22, 2024. Several gunmen have burst into a big concert hall in Moscow and fired automatic weapons at the crowd, injuring an unspecified number of people and setting a massive blaze in an attack days after President Vladimir Putin cemented his grip on the country in a highly orchestrated electoral landslide. (Sergei Vedyashkin/Moscow News Agency via AP)

Medics transport a body of a victim a waiting ambulance near the burning building of the Crocus City Hall on the western edge of Moscow, Russia, Friday, March 22, 2024. Several gunmen have burst into a big concert hall in Moscow and fired automatic weapons at the crowd, injuring an unspecified number of people and setting a massive blaze in an apparent terror attack days after President Vladimir Putin cemented his grip on the country in a highly orchestrated electoral landslide. (Sergei Vedyashkin/Moscow News Agency via AP)

Russian Rosguardia (National Guard) servicemen leave a bus near the burning building of the Crocus City Hall on the western edge of Moscow, Russia, Friday, March 22, 2024. Several gunmen have burst into a big concert hall in Moscow and fired automatic weapons at the crowd, injuring an unspecified number of people and setting a massive blaze in an apparent terror attack days after President Vladimir Putin cemented his grip on the country in a highly orchestrated electoral landslide. (Sergei Vedyashkin/Moscow News Agency via AP)

A massive blaze is seen over the Crocus City Hall on the western edge of Moscow, Russia, Friday, March 22, 2024. Several gunmen have burst into a big concert hall in Moscow and fired automatic weapons at the crowd, injuring an unspecified number of people and setting a massive blaze in an attack days after President Vladimir Putin cemented his grip on the country in a highly orchestrated electoral landlside. (Sergei Vedyashkin/Moscow News Agency via AP)

Ambulances park near a burning building of the Crocus City Hall on the western edge of Moscow, Russia, Friday, March 22, 2024. Several gunmen have burst into a big concert hall in Moscow and fired automatic weapons at the crowd, injuring an unspecified number of people and setting a massive blaze in an attack days after President Vladimir Putin cemented his grip on the country in a highly orchestrated electoral landslide. (AP Photo/Dmitry Serebryakov)

A massive blaze is seen over the Crocus City Hall on the western edge of Moscow, Russia, Friday, March 22, 2024. Several gunmen have burst into a big concert hall in Moscow and fired automatic weapons at the crowd, injuring an unspecified number of people and setting a massive blaze in an apparent terror attack days after President Vladimir Putin cemented his grip on the country in a highly orchestrated electoral landslide. (Denis Voronin/Moscow News Agency via AP)

A massive blaze is seen over the Crocus City Hall on the western edge of Moscow, Russia, Friday, March 22, 2024. Several gunmen have burst into a big concert hall in Moscow and fired automatic weapons at the crowd, injuring an unspecified number of people and setting a massive blaze in an apparent terror attack days after President Vladimir Putin cemented his grip on the country in a highly orchestrated electoral landslide. (AP Photo/Dmitry Serebryakov)

Police block the road to the Crocus City Hall on the western edge of Moscow, Russia, Friday, March 22, 2024. Several gunmen have burst into a big concert hall in Moscow and fired automatic weapons at the crowd, injuring an unspecified number of people and setting a massive blaze in an apparent terror attack days after President Vladimir Putin cemented his grip on the country in a highly orchestrated electoral landslide. (AP Photo/Dmitry Serebryakov)

A massive blaze is seen over the Crocus City Hall on the western edge of Moscow, Russia, Friday, March 22, 2024. Several gunmen have burst into a big concert hall in Moscow and fired automatic weapons at the crowd, injuring an unspecified number of people and setting a massive blaze in an attack days after President Vladimir Putin cemented his grip on the country in a highly orchestrated electoral landslide. (AP Photo/Dmitry Serebryakov)

Ambulances parked near the burning building of the Crocus City Hall on the western edge of Moscow, Russia, Friday, March 22, 2024. Several gunmen have burst into a big concert hall in Moscow and fired automatic weapons at the crowd, injuring an unspecified number of people and setting a massive blaze in an apparent terror attack days after President Vladimir Putin cemented his grip on the country in a highly orchestrated electoral landslide. (AP Photo/Dmitry Serebryakov)

A man speaks to journalists as a massive blaze seen over the Crocus City Hall on the western edge of Moscow, Russia, Friday, March 22, 2024. Several gunmen have burst into a big concert hall in Moscow and fired automatic weapons at the crowd, injuring an unspecified number of people and setting a massive blaze in an apparent terror attack days after President Vladimir Putin cemented his grip on the country in a highly orchestrated electoral landslide. (AP Photo/Dmitry Serebryakov)

Russian Rosguardia (National Guard) servicemen secure an area near the Crocus City Hall on the western edge of Moscow, Russia, Friday, March 22, 2024. Several gunmen have burst into a big concert hall in Moscow and fired automatic weapons at the crowd, injuring an unspecified number of people and setting a massive blaze in an apparent terror attack days after President Vladimir Putin cemented his grip on the country in a highly orchestrated electoral landslide. (AP Photo/Vitaly Smolnikov)

A medic stands near ambulances parked outside the burning building of the Crocus City Hall on the western edge of Moscow, Russia, Friday, March 22, 2024. Several gunmen have burst into a big concert hall in Moscow and fired automatic weapons at the crowd, injuring an unspecified number of people and setting a massive blaze in an apparent terror attack days after President Vladimir Putin cemented his grip on the country in a highly orchestrated electoral landslide. (AP Photo/Vitaly Smolnikov)

Russian Rosguardia (National Guard) servicemen walk toward the Crocus City Hall on the western edge of Moscow, Russia, Friday, March 22, 2024. Several gunmen have burst into a big concert hall in Moscow and fired automatic weapons at the crowd, injuring an unspecified number of people and setting a massive blaze in an apparent terror attack days after President Vladimir Putin cemented his grip on the country in a highly orchestrated electoral landslide. (Sergei Vedyashkin/Moscow News Agency via AP)

Russian Rosguardia (National Guard) servicemen help a man to leave an area near the Crocus City Hall on the western edge of Moscow, Russia, Friday, March 22, 2024. Several gunmen have burst into a big concert hall in Moscow and fired automatic weapons at the crowd, injuring an unspecified number of people and setting a massive blaze in an apparent terror attack days after President Vladimir Putin cemented his grip on the country in a highly orchestrated electoral landslide. (AP Photo/Vitaly Smolnikov)

Traffic on the highway is visible near the Crocus City Hall with a warning message on a billboard that reads “we mourn 03.22.2024" on the western edge of Moscow, Russia, Friday, March 22, 2024. Several gunmen have burst into a big concert hall in Moscow and fired automatic weapons at the crowd, injuring an unspecified number of people and setting a massive blaze in an apparent terror attack days after President Vladimir Putin cemented his grip on the country in a highly orchestrated electoral landslide. (AP Photo/Vitaly Smolnikov)

MOSCOW (AP) — Assailants burst into a large concert hall in Moscow on Friday and sprayed the crowd with gunfire, killing over 60 people, injuring more than 100 and setting fire to the venue in a brazen attack just days after President Vladimir Putin cemented his grip on power in a highly orchestrated electoral landslide.

The Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the attack in a statement posted on affiliated channels on social media. A U.S. intelligence official told The Associated Press that U.S. intelligence agencies had learned the group’s branch in Afghanistan was planning an attack in Moscow and shared the information with Russian officials.

It wasn’t immediately clear what happened to the attackers after the raid, which state investigators were investigating as terrorism.

The attack, which left the concert hall in flames with a collapsing roof, was the deadliest in Russia in years and came as the country’s war in Ukraine dragged into a third year. Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin called the raid a “huge tragedy.”

The Kremlin said Putin was informed minutes after the assailants burst into Crocus City Hall, a large music venue on Moscow’s western edge that can accommodate 6,200 people.

The attack took place as crowds gathered for a performance by the Russian rock band Picnic. The Investigative Committee, the top state criminal investigation agency, reported early Saturday that more than 60 people were killed. Health authorities released a list of 145 injured — 115 of them hospitalized, including five children.

Some Russian news reports suggested more victims could have been trapped by the blaze that erupted after the assailants threw explosives.

Video showed the building on fire, with a huge cloud of smoke rising through the night sky. The street was lit up by the blinking blue lights of dozens of firetrucks, ambulances and other emergency vehicles, as fire helicopters buzzed overhead to dump water on the blaze that took hours to contain.

The prosecutor’s office said several men in combat fatigues entered the concert hall and fired on concertgoers.

Dave Primov, who was in the hall during the attack, described panic and chaos when the attack began.

“There were volleys of gunfire,” Primov told the AP. “We all got up and tried to move toward the aisles. People began to panic, started to run and collided with each other. Some fell down and others trampled on them.”

Videos posted by Russian media and on messaging app channels showed men toting assault rifles shooting screaming people at point-blank range. One video showed a man in the auditorium saying the assailants had set it on fire, as gunshots rang out incessantly.

Guards at the concert hall didn’t have guns, and some could have been killed at the start of the attack, Russian media reported. Some Russian news outlets suggested the assailants fled before special forces and riot police arrived. Reports said police patrols were looking for several vehicles the attackers could have used to escape.

In a statement posted by its Aamaq news agency, the Islamic State group said it attacked a large gathering of “Christians” in Krasnogorsk on Moscow’s outskirts, killing and wounding hundreds. It was not immediately possible to verify the authenticity of the claim.

However, U.S. intelligence officials confirmed the claim by the Islamic State group’s branch based in Afghanistan that it was responsible for the Moscow attack, a U.S. official told the AP.

The official said U.S. intelligence agencies had gathered information in recent weeks that the IS branch was planning an attack in Moscow. He said U.S. officials privately shared the intelligence earlier this month with Russian officials. The official was briefed on the matter but was not authorized to publicly discuss the intelligence information and spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity.

Noting that the IS statement cast its claim as an attack targeting Christians, Aymenn Jawad al-Tamimi, an expert on the terrorist group, said it appeared to reflect the group’s strategy of “striking wherever they can as part of a global ‘fight the infidels and apostates everywhere.’”

In October 2015, a bomb planted by IS downed a Russian passenger plane over Sinai, killing all 224 people on board, most of them Russian vacation-goers returning from Egypt. The group, which operates mainly in Syria and Iraq but also in Afghanistan and Africa, also has claimed several attacks in Russia’s volatile Caucasus and other regions in the past years. It recruited fighters from Russia and other parts of former Soviet Union.

On March 7, Russia’s top security agency said it thwarted an attack on a synagogue in Moscow by an Islamic State cell, killing several of its members in the Kaluga region near the Russian capital. A few days earlier, Russian authorities said six alleged IS members were killed in a shootout in Ingushetia in Russia’s Caucasus region.

On Friday, statements of outrage, shock and support for those affected by the concert call attack streamed in from around the world.

Some commentators on Russian social media questioned how authorities, who relentlessly surveil and pressure Kremlin critics, failed to identify the threat and prevent the attack.

Russian officials said security was tightened at Moscow’s airports, railway stations and the capital’s sprawling subway system. Moscow’s mayor canceled all mass gatherings, and theaters and museums shut for the weekend. Other Russian regions also tightened security.

The Kremlin didn’t immediately blame anyone for the attack, but some Russian lawmakers were quick to accuse Ukraine and called for ramping up strikes. Hours before the attack, the Russian military l aunched a sweeping barrage on Ukraine’s power system, crippling the country’s biggest hydroelectric plant and other energy facilities and leaving more than a million people without electricity.

Dmitry Medvedev, deputy head of Russia’s Security Council, said that if Ukraine involvement was proven, all those involved “must be tracked down and killed without mercy, including officials of the state that committed such outrage.”

Mykhailo Podolyak, an adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, denied Ukraine involvement.

“Ukraine has never resorted to the use of terrorist methods,” he posted on X. “Everything in this war will be decided only on the battlefield.”

John Kirby, spokesman for the White House National Security Council, said he couldn’t yet speak about the details but “the images are just horrible. And just hard to watch.”

Friday’s attack followed a statement earlier this month by the U.S. Embassy in Moscow that urged Americans to avoid crowded places in view of “imminent” plans by extremists to target large gatherings in the Russian capital, including concerts. The warning was repeated by several other Western embassies.

National Security Council spokesperson Adrienne Watson said Friday the U.S. government had information about a planned attack in Moscow, prompting the State Department advisory to Americans. The U.S. government shared the information with Russian authorities in accordance with its longstanding “duty to warn” policy, Watson said.

Putin, who extended his grip on Russia for another six years in this week’s presidential vote after a sweeping crackdown on dissent, denounced the Western warnings as an attempt to intimidate Russians. “All that resembles open blackmail and an attempt to frighten and destabilize our society,” he said earlier this week.

Russia was shaken by a series of deadly terror attacks in the early 2000s during the fighting with separatists in the Russian province of Chechnya.

In October 2002, Chechen militants took about 800 people hostage at a Moscow theater. Two days later, Russian special forces stormed the building and 129 hostages and 41 Chechen fighters died, most from effects of narcotic gas Russian forces use to subdue the attackers.

In September 2004, about 30 Chechen militants seized a school in Beslan in southern Russia taking hundreds of hostages. The siege ended in a bloodbath two days later and more than 330 people, about half of them children, were killed.

Associate Press writer Michael Balsamo in Washington contributed to this report.

This story was updated to correct that John Kirby is a spokesman for the White House National Security Council, not the White House national security adviser.

• International

March 24 Moscow concert hall attack

By Heather Chen , Andrew Raine , Catherine Nicholls, Antoinette Radford, Maureen Chowdhury and Kathleen Magramo , CNN

First suspect apprehended in the Crocus City Hall attack arrives in court

From CNN’s Masha Angelova

The first suspect apprehended after the attack on Crocus City Hall that killed at least 137 people has arrived in court at the Basmanny Court of Moscow. 

Crocus City Hall killings are deadliest since Beslan school siege — these are some other recent attacks in Russia

From CNN Staff

The attack on Moscow's popular Crocus City Hall that left at least 133 dead has become the deadliest attack in Russia since the Beslan school siege in 2004.

Some other recent attacks include:

• September 26, 2022 : Eleven children and four adults were killed when a gunman wearing Nazi symbols opened fire at a school in the western Russian city of Izhevsk. The shooter, who was reportedly wearing a black T-shirt with Nazi insignia and a helmet, died by suicide following the attack.
• April 3, 2017 : At least 11 people were killed in a blast on the St. Petersburg metro. The explosion tore through a train as it was traveling between two stations in Russia’s second-largest city.
• October 31, 2015 : A Russian passenger jet, Metrojet Flight 9268 crashed  on October 31 after departing from the Egyptian resort of Sharm el-Sheikh,  killing all 224 people  on board. US intelligence analysis suggested that ISIS or its affiliates  planted a bomb on the plane .
• December 30, 2013 : A massive explosion at a train station in the Russian city of Volgograd killed at least 16 people, including one police officer, the Investigative Committee of Russia said.
• January 25, 2011 : A suicide bomber attacked Domodedovo Airport , Moscow's busiest airport, killing 35 people and wounding about 100, authorities and state television said.
• March 29, 2010 : Two explosions rocked the subway stations in central  Moscow during rush hour, killing at least 38 people and wounding more than 60 others, spawning widespread public outrage. A website associated with Chechen separatists, who have long fought for independence from Russia, claimed responsibility for the attacks.

Rescuers, robotic systems and canine teams are currently on site of Crocus City concert hall

From CNN’s Darya Tarasova and Eve Brennan

More than 300 “specialists” and 154 pieces of equipment are currently on site at the Crocus City concert hall in Krasnogorsk, Moscow region, where a deadly attack took place Friday , Russia’s Ministry of Emergency Situations said on Telegram on Sunday.

The ministry said more than 400 cubic meters of structures had been dismantled by rescuers while specialized robotic systems, canine teams and psychologists from the ministry continue to work.

More than 1,600 calls have already been received on the department’s hotline, the ministry added.

The post was accompanied by a video showing dozens of emergency workers digging through the rubble of the partially burned-down concert hall.

Remember : At least 137 people died on Friday after attackers opened fire on civilians at the Crocus City concert hall, and set the building ablaze. The Islamic State group, also known as ISIS, has claimed the attack and  released graphic footage  purporting to show the incident. 

Putin lit a candle in memory of victims of the concert hall attack

From CNN's Eve Brennan and Anna Chernova

Russian President Vladimir Putin lit a candle Sunday in memory of victims of the deadly attack at the Crocus City concert hall in Moscow region on Friday.

Putin also expressed deep condolences following the Moscow shooting, calling it a "barbaric terrorist act" in a video statement released Saturday.

More background: The deadly attack comes barely a week after Putin secured his fifth presidential term. The large-scale attack is damaging for a leader who portrays himself as someone able to guarantee order.

Death toll in concert hall attack rises to 137 — including 3 children, Russian Investigative Committee says

From CNN's Darya Tarasova 

The Russian Investigative Committee has updated the death toll in the Crocus City attack to 137.

In a statement released online, the committee said "the bodies of 137 people have been found at the site of the terrorist attack, three of which are children."

The committee added that 62 bodies have been identified so far. 

"For the remaining victims, genetic examinations are being carried out to establish their identities," the statement said. "The investigation of the crime scene continues." 

Russian Embassy in US says it did not receive notification of impending terrorist attack

From CNN’s Katya Krebs in Moscow and Eve Brennan in London

The Russian Embassy in Washington says it did not receive any warnings about a potential terror attack in Moscow from the US, Ambassador to the United States Anatoly Antonov told Russian state news agency RIA Novosti on Sunday.

The US diplomatic mission had warned Americans to “avoid large gatherings” at the beginning of March due to reports “that extremists have imminent plans to target large gatherings in Moscow.”

Earlier this week Putin had dismissed those warnings, telling the FSB that the embassy warnings were "provocative" and "outright blackmail."

“We did not receive any notifications or messages in advance,” Antonov told RIA.

“We paid attention to this, but,… I had no contacts with either the White House or the State Department on this issue,” he added.

In light of Friday’s attack at Crocus, Antonov told RIA Novosti that contacts between the US and the Russian Federation in the fight against terrorism have been “destroyed,” adding that the fault was not Moscow’s.

“I always reminded the Americans that our president was the first who, in 2001, extended his hand to the Americans and declared his readiness to provide help. And something worked, it worked... and it’s not our fault that all of this has been destroyed today,” he said.

Memorials have become a regular feature of Russian life

From CNN's Matthew Chance, Chief Global Affairs Correspondent, Moscow

Huge memorials like the the one at the Crocus City Hall have become a regular feature of life in Russia — a sign of instability and volatility inside the country.

Last year people laid flowers for Wagner mercenary leader Prigozhin who died in mysterious plane crash after leading an abortive march on Moscow.

And last month, thousands turned out to pay respects to the prominent Russian opposition leader Alexey Navalny, who died suddenly in his penal colony.

Now, thousands of Russians are mourning the victims of this latest terror attack.

Alexander Matveev, 37, told CNN that people in Russia feel insecure and worried that another attack could take place.

He said he heard Putin suggest that Ukraine may be involved and it made sense to him.

“He said they were trying to escape to Ukraine. This makes sense. They just found some halfwits who were eager for money," he said. Ukraine has strongly denied any connection.

But, Matveev added he would wait to hear what investigators find.

“There is a bit of anxiety here. We are worried if another attack will take place.”

“But Russia is strong, we won’t give up.”

Procedures to identify victims of Crocus City attack have begun

From CNN’s Darya Tarasova

Procedures to identify those killed in the terrorist attack at Crocus City Hall in Moscow region on Friday have begun, Russian state news agency RIA Novosti reported that the city’s Department of Health had said on Sunday.

Such procedures are taking place at the Moscow Forensic Medical Examination Bureau where relatives of the victims have been invited in advance, according to RIA.

RIA added that the department said molecular genetic examination may be required in some cases, given the complexity of the procedure, which will take at least two weeks.

Russia creating a "smokescreen of propaganda" following attack, UK says

From CNN’s Thom Poole and Eve Brennan in London

UK Chancellor of the Exchequer Jeremy Hunt told British broadcaster Sky News that the UK government has “very little confidence in anything the Russian government says” with regards to the Kremlin’s claim that Ukraine was somehow involved in the Moscow Crocus City attack on Friday.

On Saturday, Russian President Vladimir Putin said in an address that the four attackers had tried to escape to Ukraine “where, according to preliminary data, a window was prepared for them on the Ukrainian side to cross the state border."

“We know that they are creating a smokescreen of propaganda to defend an utterly evil invasion of Ukraine. But, that doesn’t mean that it’s not a tragedy when innocent people lose their lives, when you have horrible bombings,” he said.

Hunt went on to say he takes “what the Russian government says with an enormous pinch of salt… after what we have seen from them over the last few years.”

CNN's Anna Chernova contributed to this report.

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