By Jon Egie with agency report
Police have revealed that the 13 year old who killed eight fellow pupils and a security guard at a school in the Serbian capital, Belgrade had planned the attack for weeks and even had a kill list.
The suspect used his father’s guns both of which had legal permits to carry out the deadly assault at the Vladislav Ribnikar primary school.
The police have also arrested the boy’s parents in connection with the crime.
Moreover the suspect had carried a priority list of children to target and had identified specific classrooms which he would enter first.
According to reports, the shooter had called the police after the attack claiming that he thought it was the right thing to do.
While the motive is still being investigated, the boy was reportedly taken to a shooting range with his father on more than one occasion before the killings took place.
Later in the day in a televised address to the nation Serbian President, Aleksandar Vucic described the event as the “most difficult day in the modern history of our country.”
The accused has been sent to a psychiatric clinic but as he is under 14 Serbian law states that he cannot be held criminally responsible.
President Vucic has suggested reforms including lowering the age of criminal liability to 12 as well as tightening laws around firearms licenses and access to shooting ranges.
Serbia has very strict gun laws and mass shootings are rare in the country.
However, the western Balkans are known to have an abundance of unregistered weapons with an estimated 39.1 firearms per 100 people in Serbia alone.
This is the third highest rate in the world behind the United States and Montenegro.
In the worst shooting before this incident, Ljubisa Bogdanovic killed 14 people in the central village of Velika Ivanca in 2013. Nikola Radosavljevic also killed nine people and injured five in the eastern village of Jabukovac in July 2007.
The nation has announced a three day mourning period starting from Friday and the investigation continues as the nation grieves the loss of innocence and potential from the young lives lost.
Credit: siasat.com/NNN