A tragic shooting incident took place at a school in Serbia’s capital Belgrade on Wednesday (May 3), killing a total of nine people, including eight students and a security guard. A teacher and some other students were injured, said the interior ministry.
The ministry added that a 14-year-old boy shot his teacher in the classroom, and after that, he opened fire on other students and security guards. The seventh-grade student had been arrested, the police said.
As reported by news agency Reuters citing a local channel, Milan Milosevic, the father of one of the students at the Vladislav Ribnikar elementary school, said his daughter was in the class when the shooting incident took place. As quoted, Milosevic told broadcaster N1: “She managed to escape. (The boy) … first shot the teacher and then he started shooting randomly.”
The school is located in the central Vracar district and the mayor from there, Milan Nedeljkovic, said doctors were fighting to save the teacher’s life. Six children had been hospitalised along with the teacher.
Milosevic, who rushed to the school after the shooting, said, “I saw the security guard lying under the table. I saw two girls with blood on their shirts. They say he (the shooter) was quiet and a good pupil. He recently joined their class.”
A girl who attends a high school adjacent to Vladislav Ribnikar told state TV RTS: “I saw kids running out of the school, screaming. Parents came, they were in a panic. Later I heard three shots.”
Security in the surrounding region has been beefed up and officers in helmets and bulletproof vests have cordoned-off the area around the school.
(With inputs from agencies)
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