Eight students and a security guard were killed during a school shooting in Belgrade Wednesday, officials said, police accusing a detained 13-year-old suspect of plotting the attack for a month and drawing up a kill list.
The incident rocked the Balkan nation, with the president calling it “one of the most difficult days” in Serbia’s recent history.
“Eight children and a security guard were killed, while six children and one schoolteacher were wounded,” the interior ministry said.
Belgrade police chief Veselin Milic identified the dead students as seven girls and one boy, born between 2009 and 2011.
The shooting occurred at 8:40 am (0640 GMT) at an elementary school in Belgrade’s downtown Vracar district. Serbian elementary schools educate children aged seven to 15.
Police moved quickly to seal off the neighbourhood as parents rushed to the school, where students were visibly distraught as they waited outside.
Milan Nedeljkovic, president of the Vracar district, said the school’s security guard likely prevented more deaths by putting himself in the line of fire.
The guard “wanted to prevent the tragedy and he was the first victim”, Nedeljkovic told reporters outside the school.
“Probably the tragedy would be even bigger if the man did not stand in front of the boy who was shooting,” he added.
Astrid Merlini, whose daughter was in the school during the shooting, said teachers moved quickly to hide students as the attack unfolded.
“When (my daughter) saw the security guard fall, she immediately rushed back to class. She was scared. She told her teacher — there is a shooting upstairs,” Merlini told AFP.
“The teacher immediately sheltered the children, locked them in the class.”
One of the victims was of French nationality, the French foreign ministry said.
“Our staff and embassy in Belgrade are making active efforts to provide their full support to our young compatriot’s family at this difficult time,” ministry said in a statement.
Gun violence in schools is extremely rare in Serbia, where purchasing a firearm requires a special permit.
Authorities later identified the suspect as Kosta Kecmanovic, a 13-year-old student, saying he was armed with two pistols — one in his backpack and one that he used.
HORROR MOVIE
The suspect “planned the shooting for a month and made a list of kids he planned to kill,” Milic told a press conference.
“The sketch looks like something from a video game or a horror movie, which indicates that he planned in detail, by classes, who to liquidate,” he added.
During an address to the nation, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said it had been “one of the most difficult days in the modern history of our country.
“Serbia is united unfortunately in grief,” Vucic said during a live broadcast.
The president said the suspected shooter would be held in custody in a “psychiatric ward”, following an announcement by prosecutors that he was unable to stand trial due to his status as a minor.
Vucic also proposed a string of measures to fight gun violence in the wake of the shooting, including a two-year moratorium on issuing permits for firearms.
Earlier Wednesday, Interior Minister Bratislav Gasic said the suspect’s father, who owned the weapons allegedly used in the shooting spree, was also under arrest.
“The father claims that the arms were locked in a safe with a code, but apparently the kid had the code, as he managed to take the pistols and three magazines with 15 bullets each,” said Gasic.
Officials said an array of resources were being deployed to assist students, families and faculty connected to the shooting.
“A team of psychologists and others… were immediately called to provide adequate support to students, employees and parents during this traumatic period,” Education Minister Branko Ruzic told media.
“It is unimaginable when you see those scenes, what it was like for those children who felt that fear, for the guards and teachers when they tried to protect the children,” Ruzic added.
The minister dismissed media reports that bullying was a possible motive in the shooting, saying “no conclusions” had been reached.
Serbia will observe three days of mourning, Ruzic added, while a minute of silence will be observed in schools across the country on Thursday.
SERIOUS GUNSHOT WOUNDS
Milika Asanin, head of Belgrade’s main hospital KCS, said doctors were operating on several of the wounded.
“One male student is in a serious condition with serious gunshot wounds to the chest and neck, and the other male student was injured in his lower leg,” Asanin told Serbian news outlet RTS.
“The girl student was wounded in the stomach and both arms, and the teacher in the stomach and both hands,” he said.
Schools across Belgrade were closed, state media said, as shock spread through the capital.
On Wednesday evening, thousands gathered in a downtown square and surrounding streets near the school, with many lighting candles and leaving handwritten messages and flowers at a makeshift memorial.
“As a parent of two, I had the urge to come here, Zdravko Spremo, a 48-year-old locksmith, told AFP. “Belgrade is my city, I grew up here and spent my entire life here.
“We need to change something, so this never happens again.”
-EWN
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