UPDATE 2 - Serbian Authorities To Place School Shooter In Special Psychiatric Unit - President

BELGRADE (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 04th May, 2023) A 14-year-old shooter responsible for the death of nine people in a school in Belgrade will be placed in a special unit of a psychiatric clinic, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said on Wednesday.

The Serbian police said earlier in the day that it had arrested the 14-year-old shooter, who had used his father's gun to commit the crime. The shooting took place in a school in the Vrachar municipality in the center of the Serbian capital. Eight children and a guard were killed, while another six children and a teacher were wounded and transferred to an ambulance center and a children's hospital.

"Today is one of the most difficult days in the modern history of our country ... The boy is currently in a separate place and will be placed in a special unit of a neuropsychiatric hospital. His father as a gun owner, who wrongly stored the gun, despite having all the necessary papers, has been arrested, his mother has been summoned by the police as well," Vucic said in his address to the nation.

Vucic proposed lowering the minimum age of criminal responsibility from 14 to 12 years old.

"Now, maturity comes earlier, as well as physical maturity, and children can also commit serious crimes. My proposal is to lower the age limit for criminal responsibility of minors from 14 to 12 years old, in accordance with international and European standards. We fear that the boy knew that he would not be held criminally responsible," Vucic said in his address to the nation.

The president also proposed several other measures to prevent such incidents in the future, including the moratorium on the issuance of permits for the possession and carrying of weapons for two years, revision of previously issued permits, and supervision of compliance with the rules on storing firearms. The president also proposed checking all shooting ranges, introducing six-month drug tests in schools, increasing penalties for broadcasters and other media for the propaganda of violence, restricting access to websites with dangerous content and the darknet, and increasing the work of social services in the area of violence among minors.

The seventh-grader arrested for the shooting is thought to have been under the influence of drugs.

He reportedly planned the attack a month in advance. The police said that he had a plan of the school building and a list of students he intended to kill.

Interior Minister Bratislav Gasic said on Wednesday that the father of the perpetrator had been arrested. He is reported to be the legal owner of the two pistols that were discovered on the shooter by the police, one as the weapon of the crime, the other in his backpack. The shooter also had three loading clips and several Molotov cocktails, which he never got the chance to use, media said.

Later in the day, the Serbian government declared a nationwide three-day mourning period starting May 5 for the victims of the school shooting, with Serbian Education Minister Branko Ruzic calling the shooting "the greatest tragedy that has ever happened in Serbia and in our educational system in recent history."

A French student was among the victims of Wednesday's school shooting in Belgrade, the French Foreign Ministry said in a communique on Wednesday. The ministry expressed condolences to the families of the victims and noted that the French Embassy in Belgrade is supporting the family of the killed French national.

A Sputnik correspondent reported on Wednesday that people were laying flowers and lighting candles at the entry to the school in the Vrachar municipality in Belgrade to honor the victims of the deadly school shooting. A police officer at one of the entrances was telling those arriving that another place had been arranged for them on the other side of the building.

In the evening, the number of people gathering to commemorate the victims continued to grow, and the police blocked the adjacent streets so that people could approach the school. The majority of those who came were young people; the crowd was quiet, and many crossed and gave way to each other to lay flowers.

At 8:00 p.m. local time (16:00 GMT), people working in the sphere of education and citizens also gathered via social media at Cvetni trg (Flower Square) to lit candles and lay flowers; some of them were carrying toys. More senior citizens and their families started to come an hour later, and the number of people at the square was growing.