Kosta Kecmanović, is one year too young to be considered criminally responsible for his actions in Serbia
A 13-year-old schoolboy killed eight other pupils and a security guard in Serbia, police say, and is too young for jail under local laws.
Kosta Kecmanović is said to have drawn up a ‘kill list’ of classmates after suffering violent bullying at the school in Belgrade.
He is said to have taken two handguns belonging to his dad and opened fire in a classroom on Wednesday morning.
Breaking down into tears, a survivor told local media: ‘Everyone started screaming, there was a general panic, and everyone started running. When I came out I saw him, he came and pointed a gun at all of us.’
The boy is believed to have handed himself to police after calling them in (Picture: AFP)
The death toll includes seven girls, one boy and the school’s guard, and could rise further as another six pupils and a teacher were severely injured.
Kecmanović was also armed with two petrol bombs but never used them, according to local detectives.
After the bloodbath was over, he called police and told them he is a ‘a psychopath who needs to calm down’, senior police official Veselin Milic said.
Devastated pupils and parents were left reeling outside the school afterwards (Picture: AFP)
The school lies in an upmarket district of Belgrade with relatively low levels of violence (Picture: AFP)
In a televised briefing, Mr Milic added: ‘He said that after committing (the crime) he was caught by fear and panic and funny breathing, and that it was the right thing to call the police and report the event.’
As well as a list, the 13-year-old allegedly spent weeks drawing up plans for a massacre, sketching out floorplans of the school.
Gun ownership is widespread in Serbia, although the country has strict laws on who can own firearms and requires them to be locked in metal boxes.
The suspect is being held in psychiatric detention, while both his parents have reportedly been arrested.
Serbia’ president called it ‘the most difficult day in the modern history of our country’ (Picture: Reuters)
He could stay in such a facility even if he’s found to have committed the murders as the age of criminal responsibility in Serbia is 14.
The country’s president, Aleksandar Vučić, is leading calls to lower the age to 12.
The father of a boy who was two classrooms down from the alleged killer, Dusan Nedeljkovic, said: ‘That boy was transferred during the semester to a different class, and as far as I know, he was bullied by his peers.
‘He was a victim of peer violence and at the insistence of his parents, he was transferred to another class. He was calm, a good student. He was definitely calm and quiet.’
Parents reportedly charged through a police cordon to grab their children (Picture: Reuters)
The murdered security guard was named as Dragan Vlahović, in his early 50s, who was seen as a ‘friend to all of us’ by pupils.
The chief of the local council said Mr Vlahović tried to ‘prevent the tragedy and he was the first victim’.
Two of the six wounded children are in life-threatening condition with gunshot wounds to the neck and head.
The teacher Tatjana Stevanović, was also said to be in critical condition after being shot in the stomach and hands.
It’s not clear whether Kecmanović’s victims or those he intended to kill were the same pupils who bullied him.
Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at [email protected].
For more stories like this, check our news page.
‘Calm and quiet’ Kosta Kecmanović allegedly planned the massacre for weeks after suffering violent bullying by his peers.