8 students, a guard and 6 other students and a teacher were killed in a shooting on Wednesday targeting a school in the center of the Serbian capital, carried out by a 14-year-old student who was stopped by security forces.
The incident, which occurred at 08:40 local time (06:40 GMT), shocked Serbian society as such acts are very rare.
"In this morning's shooting at Vladislav Ribnikar Primary School in the Vrakar district, 8 children and a guard were killed, and 6 children and a teacher were injured and taken to hospital," the Interior Ministry said in a statement today.
Serbian police sent all available patrols to the scene and arrested a minor accused of committing the crime (Anatolia)
The Interior Ministry statement added that the 14-year-old student, who is suspected of committing this crime, was arrested in the schoolyard.
Milan Nedeljkovic, the mayor of Vrakar, announced during his inspection of the site that the school guard who died "tried to prevent this tragedy from happening and died. If this man hadn't stood in front of the boy who was shooting, the tragedy would have been even greater."
Nedilikovic told reporters that the injured school was in a "serious condition."
Earlier during the day, the ministry announced that "police sent all available patrols to the scene and arrested a minor, a seventh-grade student, on suspicion of firing multiple shots at pupils and the school janitor with a pistol belonging to his father."
"All police forces are still on the ground and are working hard to clarify the circumstances and circumstances of this tragedy," the ministry said.
Parents anxiously waited for their children to leave school as teachers moved to hide students (Reuters)
Shortly after the shooting, police sealed off the perimeter of the school, where several ambulances had come to pick up the wounded, in front of anxious parents waiting for their children to leave.
Teachers moved quickly and hid the children during the shooting.
Milica Asannin, director of Belgrade's most prominent KCS hospital, said doctors were operating on a number of the injured.
Many ambulances were found at the scene to transport the dead and injured in the shooting (Anatolia)
The director of the hospital told the RTS news website that "one of the students is in serious condition with injuries to the neck and chest and another has a foot injury."
Shootings are very rare in Serbia, where the purchase of a firearm requires special permission.
Following the shooting, EU Foreign Minister Josep Borrell offered his "warmest condolences" to the families of the victims and those close to them.