Suspect Arrested After Second Mass Shooting In Serbia
In Serbia’s second mass shooting this week, eight people were killed and at least 14 others were injured. A suspect has been detained.
A village is within striking distance of the gunman’s driving vehicle, which is located 60 kilometers (37 miles) south of Belgrade.
According to the interior ministry, the individual was apprehended following “a thorough search.”
It follows the worst shooting in Serbia in years on Wednesday, when a boy killed nine people at a school in Belgrade.
On Friday at 07:40 BST, around 08:40 local time, police announced the most recent arrest. The suspect, who has only been given his initials UB, was apprehended close to Kragujevac, according to the interior ministry.
Following a protracted manhunt that, according to the local media, involved over 600 police officers, the arrest was made. The latest shooting took place in the towns of Mladenovac and Dubona, according to early Friday morning reports in Serbian media.
Police officers were seen in photos from the incident halting cars at checkpoints while looking for the shooter. There were also many police patrols, a helicopter, and drones.
The suspect, who the interior ministry stated was born in 2002, reportedly began firing at people with an automatic rifle after arguing with a police officer in a park in Dubona on Thursday night, according to reports in local media.
A resident of Dubona named Milan Proki reported hearing gunfire close to his home to Radio Belgrade 1 and said, “It’s sad, regrettable, we locked ourselves in our home so [the shots] wouldn’t come to us.”
The individual is then alleged to have started firing shots at people while driving a car, leaving at least eight people dead and numerous others injured.
According to a report from the Serbian channel RTS, all injured patients admitted to hospitals were born after 2000.
Two patients, ages 21 and 23, who underwent surgery are still in serious condition.
Danica Grujii, the minister of health, and Aleksandar Vulin, the director of the Security Intelligence Agency, are said to have arrived in the region early on Friday.
A thirteen-year-old boy shot and killed eight other students and a security officer on Wednesday at his Belgrade school. The Serbian government was motivated by it to suggest stricter regulations on gun ownership.
NBA basketball player Luka Doncic announced that he would cover the costs of all nine funerals for those murdered in the incident on Wednesday as well as grief counseling for staff and students.
Serbia has among the highest rates of gun ownership in Europe while having one of the strictest firearms restrictions in the world.
Following wars and unrest in the 1990s, illegal weapons are rife throughout the western Balkans. According to estimates from 2019, Serbia has the third-highest rate of firearm ownership per 100 persons in the world, after the US.