Serbia police urge people to lock guns after school shooting

Serbian police encouraged individuals to put up their guns on Thursday after a 13-year-old boy used his father’s guns to kill eight pupils and a school guard, shocking the nation.

Thousands of people in Belgrade and other Balkan cities lined out to lay flowers, light candles, and leave toys to honor the victims of the Wednesday morning shooting in a central section of the Serbian capital.

Police said the teen plotted the attack for a month, sketched classrooms, and compiled lists of children to kill. On Wednesday, authorities said the child took two firearms from his father’s safe and attended shooting ranges with him.

Serbia is full with weaponry from the 1990s wars, yet this is the first school shooting in modern history.

“The Ministry of Interior is appealing to all gun owners to store their guns with care, locked up in safes or closets so they are out of reach of others, particularly children,” police said in a statement announcing potential gun owner restrictions.
The Wednesday morning Vladislav Ribnikar primary school shooting hospitalized six youngsters and a teacher. Doctors reported Thursday morning that a child who was shot in the head is life-threatening and a kid with spine injuries is critical.

Authorities established a crisis line to assist victims. Hundreds donated blood for victims, showing sympathy.

Serbian teacher unions protested to demand changes and warn of a school crisis. Hundreds of students and parents demanded resignations at the education ministry.

Kosta Kecmanovic, the police-identified gunman, has not stated a motive.

Kecmanovic killed the guard and three kids in the hallway upon entering school. He shot the history teacher and then the students.

Kecmanovic then unloaded the revolver on the schoolyard and called the police, despite a school administrator alerting them. Kecmanovic contacted duty officers and stated he was a “psychopath who needs to calm down,” police added.

Seven girls, one male, and the school security guard died. The French foreign ministry confirmed one girl was French.

On Thursday, many wanted action and explanations. During Wednesday night’s vigil near the school, Belgrade resident Zoran Sefik said, “all day I don’t feel well” and “I feel guilty.”

“We’re all guilty. “I think each one of its has some responsibility, that we allowed some things we shouldn’t,” he added.

Serbia and the Balkans have the highest gun ownership per capita in Europe. The warrior worship and gunfire at festivities are part of national identity. A combat veteran killed 13 in a central Serbian hamlet in 2013.

While such attacks are rare, experts have repeatedly warned of the danger posed by the number of weapons in a highly divided country where convicted war criminals are glorified and minority group violence goes unpunished. They also caution that decades of instability from the 1990s hostilities and economic hardship could cause such outbursts.

“We have had too much violence for too long,” psychotherapist Zarko Trebjesanin told N1 television. Children mimic. Eliminate negative models and develop a new value system.”