8 fatally shot in Serbia city a day after 9 killed at college

BELGRADE, Serbia — A shooter killed no less than eight folks and wounded 13 in a drive-by taking pictures in a city near Belgrade late Thursday, the second such mass killing in Serbia in two days, state tv reported.

The attacker used an computerized weapon to shoot randomly at folks close to the city of Mladenovac, some 50 kilometers (30 miles) south of the capital, the RTS report mentioned early Friday. Police had been in search of the 21-year-old suspect, who fled after the assault, the report mentioned.

Serbian Interior Minister Bratislav Gasic referred to as the taking pictures “a terrorist act,” the report mentioned.

Special police and helicopter items have been despatched to the area in addition to ambulances, it added.

No different particulars had been instantly out there, and police had not issued any statements.

On Wednesday in Belgrade, a 13-year-old boy used his father’s weapons in a faculty taking pictures rampage that killed eight of his schoolmates and a faculty guard. The bloodshed despatched shockwaves by way of the Balkan nation unused to such mass murders.

Dozens of Serbian college students, many carrying black and carrying flowers, paid silent homage Thursday to friends killed a day earlier.

The college students crammed the streets across the college in central Belgrade as they streamed in from all around the metropolis. Earlier, hundreds had lined as much as lay flowers, mild candles and go away toys to commemorate the eight youngsters and a faculty guard who had been killed on Wednesday morning.

People cried and hugged outdoors the college as they stood in entrance of heaps of flowers, small teddy bears, soccer balls. A grey and pink toy elephant was positioned by the college fence together with messages of grief, and a lady’s ballet sneakers hung from the fence.

The Balkan nation is struggling to return to phrases with what has occurred. Though awash with weapons left over from the wars of the Nineteen Nineties, mass shootings nonetheless have been extraordinarily uncommon — and that is the primary college taking pictures in Serbia’s fashionable historical past.

The tragedy additionally sparked a debate concerning the basic state of the nation following many years of crises and conflicts whose aftermath have created a state of everlasting insecurity and instability, together with deep political divisions.

Authorities on Thursday moved to spice up gun management, as police urged residents to lock up their weapons and hold them secure, away from youngsters.

Police have mentioned that the teenager used his father’s weapons to hold out the assault. He had deliberate it for a month, drew sketches of school rooms and made lists of the youngsters he deliberate to kill, police mentioned on Wednesday.

The boy, who had visited taking pictures ranges along with his father and apparently had the code to his father’s secure, took two weapons from the secure the place they had been saved along with the bullets, police mentioned on Wednesday.

“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 mentioned in a press release that additionally introduced tightened controls on gun house owners sooner or later.

The taking pictures on Wednesday morning in Vladislav Ribnikar main college additionally left seven folks hospitalized — six youngsters and a instructor. One lady who was shot within the head stays in a life-threatening situation, and a boy is in critical situation with spinal accidents, docs mentioned on Thursday morning.

To assist folks take care of the tragedy, authorities introduced they had been establishing a helpline. Hundreds answered a name to donate blood for the wounded victims. A 3-day mourning interval will start Friday morning.

Serbian lecturers’ unions introduced protests and strikes to demand adjustments and warn a few disaster within the college system. Authorities shrugged off duty, with some officers blaming Western affect slightly than a deep social disaster within the nation.

The shooter, whom the police recognized as Kosta Kecmanovic, has not given any motive for his actions.

Upon getting into his college, Kecmanovic first killed the guard and three college students within the hallway. He then went to the historical past classroom the place he shot the instructor earlier than turning his gun on the scholars.

Kecmanovic then unloaded the gun within the college yard and referred to as the police himself, though that they had already acquired an alert from a faculty official. When he referred to as, Kecmanovic informed responsibility officers he was a “psychopath who needs to calm down,” police mentioned.

Those killed had been seven ladies, one boy and the college safety guard. One of the ladies was a French citizen, France’s international ministry mentioned.

Authorities have mentioned that Kecmanovic is simply too younger to be charged and tried. He has been positioned in a psychological establishment whereas his father has been detained on suspicion of endangering public safety as a result of his son bought maintain of the weapons.

“I think we are all guilty. I think each one of us has some responsibility, that we allowed some things we should not allow (to happen),” mentioned Zoran Sefik, a Belgrade resident, throughout Wednesday night’s vigil close to the college.

Jovan Lazovic, one other Belgrade resident, mentioned he was not stunned: “It was a matter of days when something like this could happen, having in mind what happening in the world and here,” he mentioned.

Gun tradition is widespread in Serbia and elsewhere within the Balkans: The area is among the many high in Europe within the variety of weapons per capita. Guns are sometimes fired into the air at celebrations and the cult of the warrior is a part of nationwide identification. Still, the final mass taking pictures was in 2013 when a battle veteran killed 13 folks in a central Serbian village.

Experts have repeatedly warned of the hazard posed by the variety of weapons in a extremely divided nation like Serbia, the place convicted battle criminals are glorified and violence towards minority teams typically goes unpunished. They additionally word that many years of instability stemming from the conflicts of the Nineteen Nineties in addition to ongoing financial hardship may set off such outbursts.