Mass Shooting: 13 Years Old School Boy Shots And Kill Eight Children, Security Guard In Serbia

A teenage boy opened fire in a school in the Serbian capital of Belgrade just after lessons began on Wednesday morning, killing eight children and a security guard and seriously injuring several others, officials said.

The boy — a 13-year-old student at the school — allegedly sketched out the attack in advance on crumpled pieces of paper that officials displayed at a somber press conference. He called police himself after the shootings, they said.

The rare and possibly unprecedented event, in a nation with strict firearms laws yet high levels of gun ownership, sent shockwaves through the local community and beyond.

First reports of the shooting emerged not long after students arrived to begin the day at Vladislav Ribnikar Elementary School, a well-known institution in Vračar, an upscale area of the Serbian capital. Panicked parents rushed to the scene.

Seven girls and one boy were killed, alongside the security guard, Belgrade’s Police Chief Veselin Milić said at a press conference. A female student with French nationality was among those killed on Wednesday, said the French foreign ministry.

According to CNN, a further six children and one teacher were hospitalized, Serbia’s Ministry of Internal Affairs said.

The suspect opened fire in a history classroom, “because it was near the entrance of the school,” he added.

He killed the security guard first, then went to another classroom where he shot some of his schoolmates, Milić said. The teenager then telephoned the police and waited to be arrested in the schoolyard.

The alleged shooter was later filmed being taken from the school in handcuffs with a jacket over his head and wearing blue, skinny jeans. He was flanked by police officers and driven away in an unmarked police car.