Serbia School Shooting Leaves 8 Pupils, Guard Dead; Teen Gunman Arrested

Belgrade: According to Serbia's interior ministry, a 14-year-old boy murdered his teacher in a classroom there on Wednesday morning before turning the gun on other students and security personnel, killing eight kids and one guard.
One of the students at the Vladislav Ribnikar elementary school, whose father is Milan Milosevic, said his daughter was in the class where the gun was fired.

"She was able to get away. (The youngster) shot the teacher first before he began firing randomly "Milosevic spoke to N1 television.

In order to save the teacher's life, according to Milan Nedeljkovic, mayor of the school's neighbourhood in central Vracar.

According to a statement from the interior ministry, six children were hospitalised along with the teacher and eight children and a security guard were all dead.

According to the police, a seventh-grader was taken into custody.

"Under the table, I noticed the security guard resting down. Two girls that I saw had blood on their clothing. He (the shooter) was reportedly quiet and a decent student. He just started taking their class, "Milosevic, who arrived at the school right away after the incident, continued.

The area around the school was sealed off by officers wearing helmets and protective vests.

"Kids were shouting as they ran out of the school. Parents arrived in a panic. Three bullets were fired later "Vladislav Ribnikar's neighbouring high school girl spoke to state television station RTS.

According to a statement from the police, the injured are being treated, and an investigation into the shooting's causes is ongoing.

In Serbia, where there are highly strong gun control regulations, mass shootings are quite uncommon. However, as a result of wars and unrest in the 1990s, the western Balkans are overrun with hundreds of thousands of illegal weapons.

The Serbian government has offered multiple amnesties to encourage gun owners to turn in or register illicit weapons.