Serbian police today arrested a suspected gunman who killed eight people and injured 13 others near the capital Belgrade last night – a day after a 13-year-old boy went on a rampage at his school.
The suspect, identified only by his initials UB, was arrested near the central city of Kragujevac, 60 miles south of Belgrade, after an overnight search by around 600 police officers.
The gunman allegedly opened fire in a schoolyard before shooting indiscriminately at people in three villages in a moving car, local media report.
An off-duty police officer and his sister were among the dead in the mass shooting near the town of Mladenovac, 42 km south of Belgrade, late Thursday, state broadcaster RTS reports.
The mass shooting follows the worst school shooting in Serbia’s recent history, after 13-year-old Kosta Kecmanovic shot dead nine people, including eight fellow students, and injured seven at a school in Belgrade before turning himself in on Wednesday.
After a shooting in Malo Orasje, the forensic police are active in this place
Forensic police are operating at the site on Friday after a shooting in Malo Orasje, Serbia
An armed policeman is seen on Friday after the mass shooting in the village of Dubona near the town of Mladenovac, some 60 kilometers south of the Serbian capital Belgrade
In the latest shooting, the suspect was involved in an altercation in a schoolyard on Thursday and left, but then returned with an assault rifle and pistol, local media reports.
The suspect opened fire late Thursday and continued shooting indiscriminately through three villages near the town of Mladenovac, 30 miles south of Belgrade.
A man from the village of Dubona said he heard gunshots last night and came out of his house.
“I sensed the smell of gunpowder. I heard noises coming from the school. We saw people lying on the ground,” said the man, who declined to give his name because he feared for his safety.
“It’s terrible for our state, it’s a big defeat. In two days so many…were killed,’ said Ivan, a resident of Dubona.
Concerned relatives gathered outside the emergency center in Belgrade, where at least eight injured people were hospitalized, TV N1 reported.
Around 600 Serbian police officers, including elite anti-terrorist units (SAJ) and gendarmerie, launched a manhunt after the shooting and set up roadblocks around the villages.
After the night search, officers arrested the suspect in the city of Kragujevac.
Interior Minister Bratislav Gasic called the shooting a “terrorist act,” RTS reported.
The Balkan nation begins a three-day official mourning on Friday following the first shooting at a mass school on Wednesday.
Kosta Kecmanovic, 13, confessed to opening fire on his screaming classmates in their classroom at Vladislav Ribnikar Elementary School, killing seven girls and one boy – all under the age of 14.
As the sun rose early Friday, there was a heavy police presence in the area of the latest shooting and a helicopter circling with a searchlight appeared to be searching for the fugitive gunman
Police blocked a road in the village of Dubona near the town of Mladenovac, some 60 kilometers south of the Serbian capital Belgrade, on Friday after a shootout from a car killed at least eight people and wounded 13
A helicopter hovers as police officers block the road near the village of Malo Orasje, just outside the town of Mladenovac, some 60 kilometers south of the Serbian capital Belgrade, in the early hours of Friday morning
The police are active in this place after a shooting in Malo Orasje
Forensic police are on site
A security guard, identified as Dragon Vlahovic, in his early 50s, was also killed in the mass shooting, while another six students and a history teacher were critically injured in Wednesday morning’s attack.
The baby-faced teenager, who cannot be prosecuted because he is under 14, was arrested by Serbian police on Wednesday at the school’s playground and led away with his face covered after calling the police and confessing to the killings .
Kecmanovic, who has been described as a “model student” and has won prizes in mathematics, was armed with two rifles and two petrol bombs and had drawn up plans for the massacre a month earlier.
The plan included a list of the children he intended to kill and their classes, as well as a map of the school’s layout, police said.
“The sketch looks like something out of a video game or a horror movie, suggesting that he planned in detail by class who to liquidate,” said Belgrade Police Chief Veselin Milic.
“After the fact, he called the police. He worked out a plan for entering and leaving the school. He set the priority goals,” he added.
Serbia’s President Aleksandar Vučić said on Wednesday evening that both of the boy’s parents – both doctors – had been arrested and he should be taken to a psychiatric facility.
The latest mass shooting came a day after 13-year-old Kosta Kecmanovic allegedly opened fire on his screaming classmates in the classroom at the Belgrade school on Wednesday, killing seven girls and one boy – all under the age of 14
Police officers are escorting a minor, a seventh grade student, who confessed to opening fire on his classmates at the Vladislav Ribnikar elementary school in Belgrade on Wednesday
Police officers guard the Vladimir Ribnikar School in Belgrade, Serbia, Thursday after the mass shooting
Two grieving girls comfort each other at a vigil following the school mass shooting after their classmate opened fire on students and staff in Belgrade, Serbia on Thursday
People gather to commemorate the victims of a school shooting that killed nine people in Belgrade on Thursday
Terrified students hid under their desks amid “non-stop shooting” around 8.40am Wednesday morning.
At least eight children and a security guard were killed in the killing spree and it is feared the death toll could rise further, with some suffering life-threatening injuries.
The gunman first killed a guard at the school in central Belgrade and then three students in a hallway, police said.
He then entered a classroom – allegedly simply choosing it because it was near the entrance – and opened fire again.
Kecmanovic then called the police himself, and when officers handcuffed him, he reportedly told local media he shot his classmates “because I’m a psychopath.”
Concerned parents rushed to the school after learning about the shooting, waiting for news from their children.
When mothers and fathers were told their children were among those killed, they staggered back in utter disbelief that their child, who had left their homes that morning, would not be returning.
Their screams and wails shattered the silence, while many broke in grief at hearing of the horrible fate of their children.
Two of the six children injured in the attack are now struggling to survive after being shot in the neck and head. Injured teacher Tatjana Stevanović, in her early 50s, was also “in danger” after she was shot in the stomach and hands.
Mass shootings in schools are extremely rare in Serbia, and President Aleksandar Vucic on Wednesday called the tragedy “one of the most difficult days” in recent history.
Serbia has a deep-rooted gun culture, particularly in rural areas, but also strict gun control laws. Automatic weapons are illegal, and over the years authorities have offered several amnesties to those who turn them in.
Following the school shooting in Belgrade, the Serbian government introduced a two-year ban on issuing new gun licenses, a revision of existing licenses and controls on gun storage by gun owners.
Still, the country and the rest of the Western Balkans are awash with military-grade weapons and ordnance that remained privately owned after the wars of the 1990s.