Suspect arrested after second mass shooting in Serbia
Serbia has experienced two mass shootings in the same week, leaving a total of 17 people dead and 14 injured. The second shooting took place on Thursday evening when a gunman fired an automatic weapon from a car, killing eight people and injuring others. The suspect, identified only by his initials UB, was arrested on Friday after an extensive manhunt that involved over 600 police officers.
An earlier mass shooting on Wednesday was the country’s worst in years, in which a 13-year-old boy shot dead eight fellow pupils and a security guard at his school in Belgrade.
The government has proposed tighter restrictions on gun ownership, as gun ownership in the country is among the highest in Europe. However, mass shootings are rare in Serbia, which has strict gun laws, and the western Balkans are awash with illegal weapons following wars and unrest in the 1990s. It was estimated in 2019 that there are 39.1 firearms per 100 people in Serbia, the third-highest in the world behind the US and Montenegro.