Eight children and a security guard have been shot dead after a schoolboy stole his dad's gun and opened fire in class this morning.
The Serbian Ministry of Internal Affairs was notified of the incident at around 8.40am this morning after the shooting at "Vladislav Ribnikar" Elementary School in Vračar in the capital, Belgrade.
Police rushed to the scene, where they found the 13-year-old boy - who is said to be in the seventh grade which is the final year of Serbian primary school - standing in a field with a weapon.
He had reportedly opened fire during history class, hitting a number of his peers, security staff and a teacher, early reports say.
One student, Evgenia, told local outlet B92 that when the boy started letting off rounds, she innocently thought someone was chucking firecrackers in the classroom.
The shaken teen explained: "I heard noises, I thought kids were throwing firecrackers.
"But then I saw that the security guard fell on the floor, and then I came back, I wasn't allowed to go upstairs."
It's understood that the boy, stole the gun from his father before carrying out the rampage.
The exact number of casualties is still unclear, but Evgenia recalled seeing a boy shot in the leg, another two males wounded, and a girl also shot, in addition to the slain security guard.
There are also reports of a teacher sustaining gunshot wounds.
"I was downstairs, we had physical education, I heard gunfire, it was continuous... I didn't know what was happening, we corresponded through text messages, some children didn't answer and we were afraid..." Evgenia added.
The room was then evacuated.
"We all crammed into a small room at the school, so they transferred us to the gymnasium, it was safe there, and then we got out.
"At first I didn't tell my mother, so as not to stress her, but then I told her that I was safe, she says little girl," she told B92.
She said she and the shooter were classmates, and that the teen was quiet and reserved and mostly kept to himself.
"He was quiet, he looked nice, he had good grades. He wasn't open with everyone, but I wouldn't expect something like this to happen," she said.
The shooting happened in Vračar, an affluent urban part of Belgrade which contains a number of embassies and museums. Streets surrounding the school have been shut down while cops manage the threat.
Eyewitnesses say there were around seven ambulances on a field outside the facility.
Reports said terrified parents have arrived to the school trying to find their children.
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.
Zoran Kesić, a Serbian comedian and father of a pupil at the school, told local media: "I came in front of the school to see what was happening, because my child goes to that school [...].
"I don't know what to say, this is terrible, I'm very upset... Our children go to that school...."
Mass shootings in Serbia are extremely rare. Experts, however, have repeatedly warned of the number of weapons left over in the country after the wars of the 1990s.
Experts, however, have repeatedly warned of the number of weapons left over in the country after the wars of the 1990s. They also note that decades-long instability stemming from the conflicts as well as the ongoing economic hardship could trigger such outbursts.
Milan Milosevic, who said his daughter was in a history class when the shooting took place, told N1 television that he rushed out when he heard what had happened.
"I asked where is my child but no one could tell me anything at first," he said. "Then she called and we found out she was out."
"He (the shooter) fired first at the teacher and then the children who ducked under the desks," Milosevic quoted his daughter as saying. "She said he was a quiet boy and a good student."
Police sealed off the blocks around the Vladislav Ribnikar school, in the center of Belgrade. Primary schools in Serbia have eight grades.
