Student arrested as Serbian school shooting leaves 9 dead

A teenage boy opened fire at a school in the Serbian capital on Wednesday, killing eight children and a school guard, police said. Six other children and a teacher were injured and hospitalized.

Police identified the shooter by his initials, KK, and said he had opened fire on his father’s gun. He was arrested on school grounds, police said. There is a statement identifying him as a student at a school in central Belgrade who was born in 2009.

Police said they received a call about a shooting at Vladislav Ribnikar Elementary School around 8:40 p.m. Primary schools in Serbia have eight grades, starting from first grade.

“I can hear the shooting. It doesn’t stop,” said a student who was in gym class downstairs when the gunfire erupted. “I don’t know what happened. We received several messages on the phone.”

Unlike in the United States, mass shootings in Serbia and the wider Balkan region are rare; none have been reported at school in recent years. In the latest mass shooting, a Balkan war veteran in 2013 killed 13 people in a central Serbian village.

However, experts have repeatedly warned about the number of weapons left in the country after the war in the 1990s. He also noted that decades of instability due to ongoing conflicts and economic difficulties may have contributed to the explosion.

Parents rushed to the scene

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.

The student who heard the shooting, identified only by his initials, EM, because of his age, described the suspect as “a quiet guy.”

“He has good grades, but we don’t know much about him,” the student added. “He’s not very open with everyone. I certainly didn’t expect this to happen.”

Milan Milosevic, who said his daughter was in history class at the time of the shooting, told N1 television that he rushed out when he heard what happened.

“I asked ‘where is my son’ but nobody could say anything at first,” he said. “Then he called and we knew he was out.” “Yes [the shooter] fired first at the teachers and then the children hiding under the table,” Milosevic quoted his daughter.

Police closed off the block around the school, in the center of Belgrade.