Eight college students and a safety guard have been killed throughout a faculty taking pictures in Belgrade on Wednesday, officers mentioned, with police accusing the detained 13-year-old suspect of plotting the assault for a month and making a kill record.

The incident rocked the Balkan nation, with the president calling it “one of the troublesome days” in Serbia’s recent history .

“Eight children and a security guard were killed, while six children and one schoolteacher were wounded,” the inside ministry mentioned.

Belgrade police chief Veselin Milic recognized the lifeless college students as seven women and one boy, born between 2009 and 2011.

The taking pictures occurred at 8:40 am (0640 GMT) at an elementary college in Belgrade’s downtown Vracar district. Serbian elementary colleges go as much as eighth grade, educating youngsters aged seven to fifteen.

Police moved rapidly to seal off the neighbourhood as dad and mom rushed to the scene, the place college students have been visibly distraught as they waited exterior the varsity.

Milan Nedeljkovic, president of the Vracar district, mentioned the varsity’s safety guard probably prevented extra deaths by placing himself within the line of fireplace.

The guard “needed to forestall the tragedy and he was the primary sufferer”, Nedeljkovic told reporters outside the school.

“Probably the tragedy would be even bigger if the man did not stand in front of the boy who was shooting,” he added.

Authorities later recognized the suspect as Kosta Kecmanovic, a 13-year-old scholar, saying that he was armed with two pistols — one in his backpack and one which he used.

– ‘Horror movie’ –

The suspect “deliberate the taking pictures for a month and made an inventory of youngsters he deliberate to kill,” Milic told a press conference.

“The sketch looks like something from a video game or a horror movie, which indicates that he planned in detail, by classes, whom to liquidate,” he added.

During an tackle to the nation, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic mentioned Wednesday had been “one of the troublesome days within the fashionable historical past of our nation”.

“Serbia is united unfortunately in grief,” Vucic mentioned throughout a dwell broadcast.

The president mentioned the suspected shooter might be held in custody in a “psychiatric ward”, following an earlier announcement by prosecutors that he was unable to stand trial due to his status as a minor.

Vucic also proposed a string of measures to fight gun violence in the wake of the shooting, including a two-year moratorium on issuing permits for firearms.

Earlier on Wednesday, Interior Minister Bratislav Gasic said the suspect’s father, who owned the alleged weapons used in the shooting spree, was also under arrest.

“The father claims that the arms were locked in a safe with a code, but apparently the kid had the code, as he managed to take the pistols and three magazines with 15 bullets each,” mentioned Gasic.

Hours after the incident, officers mentioned an array of sources have been being deployed to help college students, households and school related to the taking pictures.

“A group of psychologists and others… have been instantly referred to as to offer satisfactory assist to college students, staff and fogeys throughout this traumatic interval,” Education Minister Branko Ruzic advised media.

Ruzic went on to call the shooting the “biggest tragedy” that has occurred within the Serbian college system in current reminiscence.

“It is unimaginable once you see these scenes, what it was like for these youngsters who felt that worry, for the guards and academics after they tried to guard the youngsters,” Ruzic added.

The minister dismissed media reports that bullying was a possible motive in the shooting, saying “no conclusions” had been reached.

Serbia will observe three days of mourning, Ruzic added, whereas a minute of silence might be noticed in colleges throughout the nation on Thursday.

– ‘Serious gunshot wounds’ –

The head of Belgrade’s essential hospital KCS, Milika Asanin, mentioned medical doctors have been working on a number of of the wounded.

“One male scholar is in a severe situation with severe gunshot wounds to the chest and neck, and the opposite male scholar was injured in his decrease leg,” Asanin told Serbian news outlet RTS.

“The girl student was wounded in the stomach and both arms, and the teacher in the stomach and both hands,” he mentioned.

Schools throughout Belgrade have been closed following the taking pictures, in keeping with state media, as shock unfold via the capital.

Astrid Merlini, whose daughter was within the college throughout the taking pictures, mentioned academics moved rapidly to cover college students because the assault unfolded.

“When (my daughter) noticed the safety guard fall, she instantly rushed again to class. She was scared. She advised her instructor — there’s a taking pictures upstairs,” Merlini told AFP.

“The teacher immediately sheltered the children, locked them in the class.”

Gun violence in colleges is extraordinarily uncommon in Serbia, the place buying a firearm requires a particular allow.

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