Teen kills 8 children and school guard, police in Serbia say

A teenager shot and killed eight children and a school guard at his school in Serbia on Wednesday morning before he was taken into custody by authorities, police said.

The Associated Press reported that authorities said the shooter was a student at the Vladislav Ribnikar school in Belgrade, Serbia, and used his father’s gun to carry out the mass shooting. Authorities added that six more students and a teacher were hospitalized as a result of the shooting.

Police said they heard reports of the shooting about 8:40 a.m. local time Wednesday, which was the first day of classes after a school break over the weekend. One of the students who was in a separate classroom told the Associated Press she could hear the shooting, adding that it was “nonstop.”

Local authorities said a father whose daughter attended the school said the shooter entered his daughter’s classroom and fired at her teacher and then her classmates. The father, Milan Milosevic, said that his daughter, along with many of the other students, was able to escape through a back door in the classroom, Reuters reported.

“She managed to escape. [The boy] … first shot the teacher and then he started shooting randomly,” Milosevic said on broadcaster N1.

Reuters also reported that Milan Nedeljkovic, who is the mayor of the district where the school is, rushed to the school after the shooting. He said doctors were trying to save the life of a teacher who was injured in the shooting.

“I saw the security guard lying under the table. I saw two girls with blood on their shirts. They say [the shooter] was quiet and a good pupil. He recently joined their class,” he said.