A teenager used his father's gun
Serbia is in shock from the tragedy that broke out in one of the capital's schools. A 13-year-old boy who shot eight children at a Belgrade school «had a list of murders.»
Police say a 13-year-old boy who shot eight children and a security guard at a school in Serbia had a list of students he wanted to «eliminate» and four Molotov cocktails in a bag.
According to Sky News, the suspected teenager was identified by police as seventh grade student K.K. (due to age, only his initials are listed).
Police said he took his father's gun before shooting his teacher and then classmates and a security guard at the Vladislav Rybnikar Primary School in the capital Belgrade on Wednesday morning.
The dead children were seven girls and one boy — all between the ages of 11 and 14.
The assistant principal called the police at 8:40 am local time, while the suspect himself called the police two minutes later and said that he had shot several people, reported by the police.
Milan Nedelkovic, mayor of the central district of Vracar, where the school is located, said the teacher is fighting for her life after she was injured. Six of the affected children have also been hospitalized, one of them, a girl, in a life-threatening condition.
According to the Serbian law on juvenile delinquents and criminal protection of minors, K.K. cannot be prosecuted because he is under 14 years old.
His 48-year-old father V.K. was ordered to be held for up to 48 hours on suspicion of committing serious crimes against general security.
Body bags were seen being taken out of the school after the tragedy, according to Sky News.
Belgrade police chief Veselin Milic said at a press conference that the teen attacker had a list of children on his desk at home that he wanted to «eliminate», and he had been planning the attack for a month.
Milic said that the suspect's plans looked «like a video game or a horror movie» and were very detailed — they listed the classes he was going to enter and which children he was going to target.
Veselin Milic added that the suspect first he killed a security guard at a school in the center of Belgrade, and then three students in a corridor.
The Belgrade police chief said that the suspect then entered the classroom — apparently choosing it simply because it was close to the entrance — and opened fire again.
At the time of the attack, the suspect was carrying four Molotov cocktails in his bag.
Mr Milic said that those who knew the assailant told the police that K.K. was «a model student, a model friend».
Footage from the scene of the tragedy shows that the suspect's head was covered as the police led him to the nearest car after his arrest.
Serbian Interior Minister Bratislav Gašić said the boy's father was also in custody. The minister said the weapon used in the attack was legal and the father claims it was locked in a safe, but the suspect apparently knew the code.
The head of the Serbian Interior Ministry also said the boy was walking around with his father at a shooting range to practice firearms.
The Serbian government declared three days of mourning from May 5 to May 7.
Officers in helmets and bulletproof vests cordoned off the area after the first mass shooting in Serbia over the past 10 years.
Reportedly from Serbia, terrified parents arrived at the school trying to find their children. A student who witnessed part of the shooting said she used to be in the same class as the suspect. She said: «He was a quiet guy, he looked good, he had good grades, but we didn't know much about him. He wasn't that open with everyone. Definitely, I didn't expect that to happen.»
Speaking about what she witnessed as the shooting unfolded, the girl said: «I was downstairs, we were downstairs having sports, I could hear the shooting. It was non-stop, it was not like one shot at a time, it was shooting non-stop. I didn't know what was going on, we were getting some messages on the phone. Some of the seventh grade kids… didn't answer, so we were in real fear.»
A girl who studies at a secondary school next door to Vladislav Rybnikar, told the state television channel RTS: «I saw children running out of the school screaming. Parents came, they were in a panic. Later I heard three shots.»
Mass shootings are comparatively rare in Serbia, where gun laws are very strict. But, Sky News notes, the Western Balkans have been flooded with hundreds of thousands of illegal weapons since the wars and turmoil of the 1990s. Serbian authorities have issued several amnesties to owners who turn in or register illegal weapons.
During the latest mass shooting in 2013, a veteran of the Balkan War killed 13 people in a Serbian village in the central part of the country.