Portugal regrets “tragedy” after shooting that killed nine at school in Serbia – World

The Portuguese Ministry of Foreign Affairs regretted this Wednesday the shooting at a school in Belgrade, in which nine people died, including eight children, offering “sincere condolences to the families and friends of the victims of this tragedy” in Serbia.

“It was with great emotion that we learned of the shooting at the Vladislav Ribnikar school, in Belgrade. Our sincere condolences to the families and friends of the victims of this tragedy”, said the ministry led by João Gomes Cravinho, in a note released on the social network Twitter.

Among those killed in the shooting provoked by a teenager are eight children and the school guard at the school, which is located in the center of Belgrade.

Authorities also said six children and a teacher were injured in the attack and had been hospitalized.

The teenager responsible for the shooting had a hit list and sketches of classrooms, Serbian police said.

Police officer Veselin Milic said the gunman drew sketches of classrooms at Vladislav Ribnikar Elementary School and wrote a list of people he intended to “shoot down” in the attack, which was reportedly planned for a month.

Milic said teenager Kosta Kecmanovic, who was a seventh grader at the school, personally called the police when the attack ended.

Kosta Kecmanovic – born in 2009 – was stopped by police at the school, which has pupils between the ages of six and 15. Basic education in Serbia comprises eight years of schooling.

Police added that the attacker apparently fired several shots, with his father’s gun, at other students and the school security guard.

The authorities received a telephone call regarding a shooting at the Vladislav Ribnikar school, around 8:40 am local time (7:40 am in Lisbon), said the police authorities, who isolated the surrounding blocks.

Mass shootings in Serbia are extremely rare, but many weapons used in the wars of the 1990s that followed the disintegration of Yugoslavia still remain in the country. In recent years, there is no record of any school shootings.

In 2013, a Balkan war veteran killed 13 people in a village in central Serbia.