A 13-year-old student killed eight fellow students and a school guard in a meticulously planned attack on a school in Belgrade, Serbia’s capital. The boy, who cannot be charged with criminal offenses due to his age, drew sketches of classrooms and made a list of people he intended to target before carrying out the shooting. He first killed a school guard and then three students in a hallway before entering a history classroom and opening fire again. Seven girls and one boy were killed in the attack.
The victims included a girl with French citizenship, according to the French Foreign Ministry. The attacker called the police when the shooting was over, although authorities had received a call reporting the incident two minutes earlier. He claimed to be a psychopath who needed to calm down and said he had been caught by fear and panic.
The boy had planned the attack for a month, sketching classrooms and writing out a list of children he planned to “liquidate,” authorities said. However, it is unclear if he shot any of the people named on his list or how many rounds were fired. The boy reloaded the handgun at least once during the attack.
School Shooting in Serbia’s Capital Leaves Nine Dead
Six children and a teacher were taken to hospital, and the school was closed indefinitely following the incident. The authorities declared three days of nationwide mourning, starting on Friday. The shooter’s father was also arrested, although he has yet to be charged.
The incident has left the community in shock, with many people calling it a tragedy that could have happened anywhere in the world. The shooting is believed to be the worst mass shooting in Serbia since the Balkan wars of the 1990s, and authorities are investigating the motivations behind the attack.
