Global Courant 2023-05-03 16:13:01
Eight children and a security guard were killed on Wednesday after a teenager opened fire at a school in the Serbian capital Belgrade, police said.
The suspect, a seventh-grade student identified by police only by the initials “KK,” was arrested in the schoolyard, authorities said. They said he was a student at the school and fired several shots from his father’s gun.
A motive for the shooting, which left six more children and a teacher injured and hospitalized, was not immediately clear.
A parent accompanies her child after a school shooting in the Serbian capital Belgrade on May 3, 2023.Oliver Bunic/AFP – Getty Images
Officers had responded to reports of a shooting at the Vladislav Ribnikar school at about 8:40 a.m. local time on Wednesday, police said.
Milan Milosevic, a father of one of the students at Vladislav Ribnikar Primary School, said his daughter “managed to escape” the shooting.
Speaking to broadcaster N1, he said the suspect “shot first at the teacher and then at the children hiding under the desks,” according to the Associated Press. “She said he was a quiet boy and a good student,” he quoted his daughter as saying.
Mass shootings in Serbia and the wider Balkan region are extremely rare, with no reports in schools in recent years.
Serbian police arrested a student after the shooting, the Interior Ministry said. Oliver Bunic/AFP – Getty Images
“I really don’t know what to say. This is a complete tragedy of a society,” Serbian politician Miodrag Gavrilovic said in a statement. tweet respond to the shooting. “Aggression and violence are everywhere, but when the shooting happens at an elementary school…”
“I deeply fear for the consciousness of our children,” the MP later wrote. “Well, that boy is only a year older than my son. I don’t know. This tragedy has deeply affected me personally.”
Local media footage of the scene showed commotion outside the school as police removed the suspect, whose head was covered as officers led him to a car parked in the street.
This is an evolving story. Check back later for updates.
Associated Press, Victoria Di Gioacchino and Kate Brannelly contributed.
