In May 2023, a boy, who was 13 years old at the time of the crime, shot eight students and the school janitor during a school shooting in Belgrade. At the start of the trial, the shooter said that “this would never have happened without my father’s gun.”
Nine dead and seven injured, the Serbian Ministry of the Interior ruled after the massacre at the ‘Vladimir Ribnikar’ primary school in central Belgrade in early May 2023. The now 14-year-old teenager stormed his school with a gun and opened fire in a classroom. The massacre eventually ended in the schoolyard, where the shooter was eventually arrested.
There could have been more victims
Despite the high death toll, there could have been more victims, it turned out. Investigation revealed that there were other names on a list of people who would be attacked.
The shooter was not an adult at the time of the crime
The boy was considered a model student and was only 13 years old at the time of the crime and therefore not yet criminally liable. The murder weapon belonged to his father. At the beginning of the trial, the gunman testified that the constant pressure his mother put on him to perform led him to the massacre. Besides, “this never would have happened without my dad’s gun”…
The perpetrator, who was brought to court under the strictest security measures, is not threatened with prison due to his age. However, the parents are held responsible because the father was a member of a shooting club and the weapon was probably unsecured in the house.
Gun violence is extremely rare in Serbian schools. In the Balkan country, buying and owning a firearm is legal with a permit. The Serbian government declared three days of national mourning after the massacre.
Source: Krone
I am Wallace Jones, an experienced journalist. I specialize in writing for the world section of Today Times Live. With over a decade of experience, I have developed an eye for detail when it comes to reporting on local and global stories. My passion lies in uncovering the truth through my investigative skills and creating thought-provoking content that resonates with readers worldwide.
