A 13-year-old boy opened fire in a Belgrade classroom in an apparently planned attack that killed eight children and a school security guard and injured a further six pupils as well as his teacher.
Police named the shooter as Kosta Kecmanović and said he had been a pupil at the school in the centre of the Serbian capital since 2019. They said he had used two of his father’s guns for the shooting and may have been plotting the attack for a month.
The head of Belgrade police, Veselin Milić, said the teenager also had two petrol bombs and “made a list of kids he planned to kill and their classes”. Milić identified the dead pupils as seven girls and a boy born between 2009 and 2011.
“The sketch looks like something from a video game or a horror movie, which indicates that he planned in detail, by classes, whom to liquidate,” he added.
The suspect, who was arrested in the school playground after confessing to the shooting and led away with his head covered, fired first at the security guard and three girls in a hallway, then walked into a history class and shot the teacher and five pupils, Milić said.
Because he is under 14, Kecmanović can’t face criminal charges, the Belgrade prosecutor’s office said. He will be placed in a psychiatric institution. His parents have also been arrested.
Seven girls and one boy have been confirmed among the dead, with four further boys and two girls injured.
A boy who was shot in the neck and chest in said to have suffered the worst injuries, while a girl is in critical condition with a head injury.
Three other boys suffered injuries to their legs, while a second girl was shot in the abdomen and is currently stable.
"There's been an operation and all that can be done [has been] but they're still fighting for her life", the health minister said.
A teacher injured in the attack was also reported to be undergoing surgery and the minister said her life was at risk.
The sounds of crying parents could be heard on the streets around the school hours after the shooting.
Milan Milosevic, the father of one of the pupils at the school, said his daughter was in the class where the gun was fired and managed to escape. On this occasion, 8 students died, 7 girls and one boy.
"Upon arrival at the school, members of the Ministry of the Interior deprived the murderer of his freedom. He had been planning this for a long time. He chose today's date because the history classroom was close to the exit from the school. He had four Molotov cocktails in his bag, and immediately after arriving at the school, he shot the guard. From the classroom door, he shot the teacher, and then the students," said Milić.
The Minister of Health, Dr. Danica Grujicic, said at an extraordinary press conference that we cannot bring back those killed.
The suspect is alleged to have used his father's guns, both of which had legal permits. He is also said to have gone to a shooting range more than once with his father before the killings.
The boy's mother and father have since been arrested.
In a televised address to the country, President Aleksandar Vucic described the attack as "the most difficult day in the modern history of our country".
He said the suspect would be sent to a psychiatric clinic. Under current Serbian law, he cannot be held criminally responsible as he is under 14.
Mr Vucic has suggested that the age of criminal liability may be lowered to 12 in the wake of the killings.
He has also proposed several other reforms, including an audit on firearms licences and a tightening of the rules around who can access shooting ranges.
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