Teen opens fire in Serbian school, 8 children and school guard killed

A teenage boy opened fire at a school in Serbia's capital Wednesday, killing eight children and a school guard, police said.

Six more children and a teacher were injured and hospitalised.

Police identified the shooter by his initials, K.K., and said he had opened fire with his father's gun.

He was arrested in the schoolyard, police said. A statement identified him as a student at the school in central Belgrade who was born in 2009.

Police said they received a call about the shooting at the Vladislav Ribnikar primary school around 8:40 a.m. Primary schools in Serbia have eight grades, starting with first grade.

Local media footage from the scene showed commotion outside the school as police removed the suspect, whose head was covered as officers led him to a car parked in the street.

A student who heard the shooting, who was identified only by her initials, E.M., because of her age, described the suspect as a “quiet guy” who “looked nice.”

Police sealed off the blocks around the school, in the centre of Belgrade.

Unlike in the United States, mass shootings in Serbia and in the wider Balkan region are extremely rare; none were reported at schools in recent years.

In the last mass shooting, a Balkan war veteran in 2013 killed 13 people in a central Serbian village.