Serbia Funerals For Two Mass Shootings That Killed 17 People

By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent Worthy News

BELGRADE (Worthy News) – The question “Why?” resonated through Serbia’s capital Belgrade on Saturday after two mass shootings left 17 people dead and 21 wounded this week, many of them children.

Reporters witnessed heart-wrenching cries as funerals were held in Serbia on Saturday for some of the victims of the two attacks in a Belgrade school and nearby villages.

Police earlier confirmed that at least eight people were killed and 14 injured in Serbia‘s second mass shooting in two days.

The latest rampage near the municipality of Mladenovac, some 50 kilometers (30 miles) south of the capital, came as Serbia already mourned the nine people killed the previous day by a 13-year-old boy at a Belgrade school.

Serbia’s state broadcaster RTS said Thursday’s shootings began after the 21-year-old suspect had been involved in an altercation in a schoolyard.

The young man, identified only by his initials U.B. allegedly left to fetch an assault rifle and a handgun. He then opened fire in the village of Dubona and continued to shoot at people including from a moving car in two other towns, authorities said.

U.B. was detained while hiding at his grandfather’s house near the town of Kragujevac, about 100 kilometers (60 miles) south of Belgrade, following a massive manhunt, according to law enforcement authorities.

STOPPING CARS

Security forces stopped cars at checkpoints, while a helicopter, drones, and multiple patrols were used in an operation reportedly involving more than 600 police officers.

In a somber national address, President Aleksandar Vucic called the incident a “terrorist attack” and said the gunman wore a T-shirt with neo-Nazi symbols.

The bloodshed happened as Serbia was still reeling from the school shooting that killed eight children and a security guard while wounding six children and a teacher.

Serbs told Worthy News that the recent shootings by youngsters whose lives have just begun were a “failure of the system.”

There were also reports that the 13-year-old boy detained in the first shooting incident at the Belgrade school had been bullied and sought revenge.

The detained father of the teen suspect denied any responsibility on Friday, the High Public Prosecutor’s office said in a statement.

The prosecution said the father, identified as Vladimir K., faced up to 12 years in jail on suspicion of training his son by taking him to target practice and failing to secure arms.

MOURNING CONTINUES 

As the weekend began, Serbs continued to queue outside the Vladislav Ribnikar elementary school. They held calla lilies and waited to sign a condolence book near the school’s entrance, which remains sealed off by police.

President Vucic spoke of “monsters” when describing those responsible for this week’s shootings. “There will be justice. These monsters will never see the light of the day,” he told the nation.

Vucic proposed a moratorium on gun permits, in what he called a “practical disarmament” of Serbia that would also include more frequent, mandatory medical and psychological checks of gun owners.

While Vucic has a ceremonial role, he still wields power as leader of the ruling party, and the cabinet approved his plans.

The government also plans to hire 1,200 new police officers for school security and offer an amnesty for people surrendering illegal weapons and explosive devices.

Weapons are widespread in Serbia and other Balkan nations, a legacy of the Balkan wars of the 1990s, which saw the collapse of Yugoslavia into separate republics such as Serbia.

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