Eight Russian soldiers were shot dead by a fellow serviceman Friday after he reportedly opened fire on a military base in Transbaikal.

The soldier, identified as Private Ramil Shamsutdinov, was guarding the base in the village of Gorny when he opened fire, the BBC reported. In addition to at least eight soldiers being killed, two more were injured. He is understood to have killed two officers and six fellow soldiers.

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It was not immediately clear what caused the attack but Russia’s Defense Ministry pointed to a nervous breakdown.

“The actions of the serviceman could be the result of a nervous breakdown caused by personal circumstances not connected to his military duty,” the agency said.

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A special commission headed up by Andrey Kartapolov, the deputy defense minister, was heading to the region to investigate.