Eight children, security guard killed in Serbia school shooting

A 14-year-old boy is arrested and charged with using his father’s gun to kill eight students and a security guard.

A teenage boy is accused of opening fire at a school in central Belgrade, killing eight children and a security guard, Serbian police said.

Police received a call about the shooting at Vladislav Ribnikar school at around 8:40 am (06:40 GMT) on Wednesday, they said in a statement.

The suspect, a seventh-grade student, has been arrested, police said. The statement added that the 14-year-old fired several shots from his father’s gun at other students and the school security guard.

The Tanjug news agency reported that at least one of the five injured students was in critical condition and was undergoing surgery in hospital.

According to media reports, terrified parents have arrived at the school looking for their children.

Local media footage of 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.

Police have cordoned off the streets around the school.

Mass shootings are rare in Serbia, which has strict gun laws, but the Western Balkans are flooded with hundreds of thousands of illegal guns after wars and unrest in the 1990s.

Serbian authorities have offered several amnesties to owners to surrender or register illegal weapons.