Ten of the 17 victims of the deadly attacks will be buried on Saturday. Five other people are still in mortal danger.
In Serbia, ten of the 17 victims of the two fatal gun attacks will be buried on Saturday, with more funerals on Sunday and Monday. With white balloons and flowers, family members, school friends and teachers said goodbye to one of the first dead, a school friend of the 13-year-old gunman, at Belgrade’s New Cemetery. Three more students and the security guard will be buried in Belgrade later today.
Also on Saturday, five victims of Thursday night’s shooting will be buried in the village of Malo Orasje. Health Minister Danica Grujicic said five of the 21 injured were still at risk of death on Saturday.
Suspect is still in custody
The 21-year-old suspect, believed responsible for the deaths of eight people and the wounding of 14, remained in police custody for 48 hours. He is due to be questioned by an investigating judge by Sunday afternoon. Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic described the bloody act as a “terrorist act”, a qualification that experts question. The motive for the crime is still unknown.
The 13-year-old, who allegedly killed eight classmates and a security guard and injured seven others at the elementary school on Wednesday, was in hospital. A 30-day preventive detention was imposed on his father, who is said to have taught him how to shoot, after questioning on Friday. The doctor and weapons collector faces up to twelve years in prison for “serious danger to general security”.
Long queue for elementary school grief book
Long lines of people wanting to sign the mourning book formed in front of the primary school on Friday. Meanwhile, Belgrade Mayor Aleksandar Sapic asked his fellow citizens to also lay flowers in front of the Old Castle, seat of the city’s government, by midnight on Sunday. Media critical of the government noted the absence of staff in front of the primary school as a “lack of empathy”. Citizens and young people have been laying flowers and lighting candles since Wednesday.
President Vucic announced tighter gun control measures on Friday. The number of legal weapons will be reduced from the current 400,000 – excluding hunting rifles – to 30,000. Vucic announced on Wednesday that around 700,000 weapons, including hunting rifles, are legally private property in Serbia. The number of illegally owned guns is unknown. According to police, Mladenovac’s suspect possessed a considerable arsenal of weapons.
Weapons must be handed over
Filip Svarm, editor-in-chief of the weekly Vreme, critical of the government, told TV channel N1 that he feared that the control measures could increase the number of illegal weapons. The Interior Ministry has asked gun owners to hand over guns with impunity by June 8. Hardly anyone in Serbia, which has been grappled with illegal gun ownership since wars in the 1990s, believes the campaign could succeed. Serbian society is currently out of breath, like after a punch in the stomach, is how Svarm described the current situation after the gun attacks. Radical changes are needed, said Professor Maja Vukic.
Classes are scheduled to start again on Monday at the primary school “Vladislav Ribnikar”. Although school staff, students and their parents have received psychological help in recent days, many have felt insecure.
Not far from the school is the building to which a picture of Bosnian war criminal Ratko Mladic was attached for years. All attempts by non-governmental organizations to remove them have so far failed. Mladic, who was primarily responsible for the Srebrenica massacre and was sentenced to life in prison, is a folk hero for many Serbs.
(APA)