According to reports, the gunman entered Perm University campus this Monday morning and started shooting, at least eight people have died.
Students and teachers barricaded themselves inside the university building; others were seen jumping from windows.
Police say they wounded and detained the attacker, who is said to be a student.
The local health ministry says 19 people were injured in the attack.
The incident occurred at 11:00 (06:00 UTC) at Perm State University, east of the Russian capital, Moscow, in the Urals.
Videos circulating on social media shows students throwing belongings out of windows from buildings on campus before jumping to flee the shooter.
Some reports say the gunman had written on social media that he was acting alone and had no political or religious motives.
The gunman was identified as a student at the university, according to the Investigative Committee that handles probes into major crimes.
According to Prof Pechishchev, there are about 10 buildings on the Perm University campus, and the security service immediately blocked all buildings and passages.
Perm University posted a message on social networks urging students who were in the building to stay in the classrooms.
In May this year, another gunman had killed 9 people in his old school in Kazan, Russia.
