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Serbia school shooting infographic
Graphic shows location of Vladislav Ribnikar elementary school.
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CRIME

Serbia school shooting

By Duncan Mil

May 3, 2023 - A seventh-grade student went on a shooting rampage at a school in Belgrade, Serbia, early on Wednesday, killing eight children and a security guard, Serbia’s interior ministry said.

The 14-year-old boy also wounded his teacher and six other students when he opened fire in his Belgrade classroom at Vladislav Ribnikar elementary school in Belgrade’s upscale neighbourhood of Vracar, Serbia’s interior ministry said.

The security guard was killed while trying to stop the attack, according to the district’s mayor, Milan Nedeljkovic.

“He wanted to prevent a tragedy, which would have been even greater if he had not stood in front of the boy,” Nedeljkovic said in an interview with state media outside the school on Wednesday.

“The children are under stress. The school is closed. Something like this has never been recorded in the history of Belgrade schools,” he added. Police apprehended the suspect in the schoolyard.

Mass shootings are comparatively rare in Serbia, although stockpiles of weapons from the Balkan wars in the 1990s remain. Many Serbs keep weapons at home for protection.

Sources
PUBLISHED: 03/05/2023; STORY: Graphic News
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