Teenager arrested after Serbia school shooting leaves nine dead including eight students

At least eight students have been shot dead in a school shooting allegedly carried out by a 13-year-old boy who had a list of who to “liquidate”.

Several children died at a school shooting in Belgrade, Serbia.

A 13-year-old boy has been arrested after eight students and a security guard were shot dead at a school in Serbia.

A further six students and a teacher were harmed in the incident at Vladislva Ribnikar school, located in the central Vracar neighbourhood of the capital Belgrade.

However, the alleged attacker’s age means he is not able to be tried leading the president of the country of 7 million to request the age for criminal culpability be lowered.

Seven girls and one boy died in the attack which occurred at 8.40am on Wednesday (4.40pm AEST). The youngest victim was just 12 years old.

Belgrade’s head of police said the massacre was “like something from a horror movie” and the shooter had a list of children he intended to “liquidate”.

The boy’s father and mother have also been arrested. Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić said the teen had been placed in psychiatric institution.

Police officers guard the school entrance following a shooting at a school in Belgrade on May 3, 2023. (Photo by Oliver Bunic / AFP)

It’s alleged the shooter opened fire at the entrance to the school, killing the guard, and then went in to a classroom where a history lesson was taking place. He is said to have shot the teacher and then turned the gun on students.

Milan Nedeljkovic, president of the Vracar district, said the school’s security guard likely prevented more deaths by putting himself in the line of fire.

The guard “wanted to prevent the tragedy and he was the first victim,” Mr Nedeljkovic told reporters outside the school.

“Probably the tragedy would be even bigger if the man did not stand in front of the boy who was shooting,” he added.

Ambulances at the scene of the shooting. (Photo by Oliver Bunic / AFP)

‘I shot several people’

Authorities identified the suspect as Kosta Kecmanovic, a 13-year-old student, saying that he was armed with two pistols, one in his backpack and one that he used. A bag containing Molotov cocktails was found near the school.

It’s been reported on Serbian English language news website B92 that he called police himself after the attack, saying “I’m Kosta Kecmanovic, I shot several people”.

The teenage suspect was arrested on the grounds of the school. Authorities said there were claims he had been bullied.

A parent escorts her child following a shooting at the school. (Photo by Oliver Bunic / AFP)

‘Liquidate list’

The suspect “planned the shooting for a month and made a list of kids he planned to kill,” Belgrade police chief Veselin Milic told a press conference.

“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 University Clinical Centre hospital received three 13-year-old students and a teacher for treatments.

One boy was shot in the leg and a girl had wounds to her abdomen and both arms. The teacher was shot in the stomach and both hands.

“One student came in a serious condition, he was admitted for resuscitation and transferred to the operating room. He is seriously wounded in the chest and neck area,” hospital director Milika Asanin said.

Emotions were high outside the school. (Photo by Oliver Bunic / AFP)

Too young to be held responsible

“A student of this school who is suspected of having committed this crime was found and arrested,” Serbia’s interior ministry said in a statement.

“All police forces are still on the ground and are intensively working to shed light on all the facts and circumstances that led to this tragedy”.

Interior minister Bratislav Gasic said the suspect’s father, who owned the alleged weapons used in the shooting spree, was also under arrest. He had legal permits for two firearms. It later emerged his mother had also been arrested.

“The father claims that the arms were locked in a safe with a code, but apparently the kid had the code, as he managed to take the pistols and three magazines with 15 bullets each,” said Mr Gasic.

There are however doubts the child can be prosecuted for the attack as Serbia’s law states children under the age of 14 cannot be held criminally responsible.

In response to the attack, Serbia’s President Aleksandar Vučić has asked for the age of criminal responsibility be lowered from 14 to 12.

People light candles at a makeshift memorial for the victims following a shooting at a school in the Serbian capital Belgrade. (Photo by ANDREJ ISAKOVIC / AFP)

Serbia has lots of guns but few deaths

The incident has rocked the Balkan nation, which has not seen a school shooting of this magnitude for decades and where one cabinet minister called it the “biggest tragedy” to occur in the Serbian school system in recent history.

Serbia has some of the highest gun ownership levels in the world due to weapons left over from the 1990s wars during and following the break-up of Yugoslavia, of which Serbia was part. But laws around firearms are relatively tight and gun violence is low.

Nonetheless, President Vučić has said more stringent laws need to be enacted.

With AFP.

Originally published as Teenager arrested after Serbia school shooting leaves nine dead including eight students