Nine Dead, Multiple Injured In Seschool School Shooting
A teenage boy opened fire in a school in the Serbian capital of Belgrade just after lessons began on Wednesday morning, killing eight children and a security guard and seriously injuring several others, officials said.
The boy – a 13-year-old student at the school – allegedly sketched out the attack in advance on crumpled pieces of paper that officials displayed at a somber press conference. He called police himself after the shootings, they said.
The rare and possibly unprecedented event, in a nation with strict firearms laws yet high levels of gun ownership, sent shockwaves through the local community and beyond.
First reports of the shooting emerged not long after students arrived to begin the day at Vladislav Ribnikar Elementary School, a well-known institution in Vračar, an upscale area of the Serbian capital. Panicked parents rushed to the scene.
“Seven girls and one boy were killed, alongside the security guard, Belgrade’s Police Chief Veselin Milić said at a press conference. A female student with French nationality was among those killed on Wednesday, said the French foreign ministry.”
A further six children and one teacher were hospitalized, Serbia’s Ministry of Internal Affairs said.
The suspect opened fire in a history classroom, “because it was near the entrance of the school,” he added.
He killed the security guard first, then went to another classroom where he shot some of his schoolmates, Milić said. The teenager then telephoned the police and waited to be arrested in the schoolyard.
The alleged shooter was later filmed being taken from the school in handcuffs with a jacket over his head and wearing blue, skinny jeans. He was flanked by police officers and driven away in an unmarked police car.
Parents gathered outside the school as police responded to the shooting.
According to Serbia’s Interior Minister Bratislav Gasic, the boy brought two guns from home. “The parent had several pieces of weapon and kept them locked up. The safe had a code. Obviously the kid had the code as soon as he managed to get hold of those two guns. And three frames full of 15 bullets each.”
Milić, the police chief, said the boy had a 9mm pistol and a small caliber pistol in a bag, as well as four Molotov cocktails.
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Officials said the shooting was premeditated, and displayed sheets of paper that allegedly showed the suspect’s plans for the attack.
The suspect’s father and mother were also arrested, according to Serbian officials, who added that it was known that the father had previously visited a shooting range with his son, whose age was first given as 14.
The prosecutor’s office said the father was ordered to be detained for up to 48 hours on “suspicion of having committed the criminal offense of Serious Offenses against General Security.”
The 13 year old suspect would be placed in a special psychiatric institution, Serbia’s President Aleksandar Vucic said, adding that the shooting suspect did not show remorse.
CNN/Shakirat Sadiq
