Serbia: deadly shooting at Belgrade school
Police block streets around the Vladislav Ribnikar school in Belgrade on Wednesday, May 3, 2023 after the shooting. AP - Darko Vojinovic
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A shooting at a school in central Belgrade occurred early Wednesday morning, May 3. A 14-year-old student opened fire in class, killing nine people and wounding six.
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Traffic was blocked by police and emergency vehicles, in this district of the hyper center of Belgrade and in the street of the school where the shooting took place, reports our correspondent in Belgrade, Laurent Rouy. In the morning, a 14-year-old student, while in class, began shooting his teacher and the students, and then a guard at the school.
The toll is very heavy: eight students and a school guard died, while at least six injured, two in serious condition, were rushed to hospital. In the late morning, the president of the municipality of Vracar, Milan Nedeljkovic, told the press that the school's caretaker was killed and several students and a history teacher were injured.
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He wanted to prevent this tragedy and he died (...) The tragedy would probably have been worse if this man had not stood in front of the boy who was shooting," Nedeljkovic said outside the school, according to footage broadcast by national television (RTS).
The weapon used would be that of the shooter's father
The student who fired the shots was arrested without resistance by the police shortly after the tragedy. For now, nothing is known about his motives. This teenager, apparently without problems, was described as a "good student" by the other children in his class. The weapon used, a pistol, is believed to belong to the shooter's father. In Serbia, the law allows the possession of firearms under certain conditions. Yet shootings are extremely rare in the country.
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