According to CNN, a Russian soldier killed an officer with an ax and then gunned down two more officers at a military base near Voronezh, southern Russia, the country's investigative committee confirmed in a statement Monday.

"According to the investigation, on November 9, 2020, at 5:30 a.m. [the soldier] killed an officer using an ax in order to obtain a weapon and after that shot his colleagues, two of them died, one was wounded," the body said.

The military department of the Voronezh Investigative Committee has launched a criminal probe into the killing.

The suspect has been detained, Russian state news agency RIA Novosti reported, citing a statement from the Western Military District.

The gunman's motives were not immediately apparent but the investigators said they will conduct a mental health analysis to determine his mental state.