Schoolboy shoots nine, injures several in elementary school

Eight students and a security guard were killed during a school shooting in the Serbian capital of Belgrade on Wednesday, the interior ministry said, as police arrested a teenage student suspected of carrying out the attack.

The incident shook the nation in the Balkans, where school shootings and firearms violence are extremely uncommon.

The attack occurred at 8:40 a.m. (06:40 GMT) in the Vracar district of downtown Belgrade at an elementary school.

"Eight children and a security guard were killed, and six children and one teacher were injured," the ministry of the interior reported.

All police forces remain on the scene and are working tirelessly to cast light on all the facts and circumstances surrounding this tragedy.

Milan Nedeljkovic, the president of the Vracar district of Belgrade, where the shooting occurred, stated that the school's security guard likely prevented additional deaths by placing himself in front of the gunman.

The security officer "wanted to prevent the tragedy, and he was the first victim," Nedeljkovic told reporters outside the school on live television.

– 'Father's firearm' –

"Probably the tragedy would have been even worse had the man not stood in front of the shooting boy," he added.

Astrid Merlini, whose daughter was in the school during the shooting, reported that teachers hid students swiftly as the assault unfolded.

"When (my daughter) saw the security guard fall, she returned to class promptly. She was terrified. She informed her teacher that a gunshot was occurring upstairs, Merlini told AFP.

The teacher promptly protected the students by locking them in the classroom.

Police announced earlier in the morning that they had arrested an adolescent student in connection with the shooting.

"All available police patrols were dispatched immediately to the scene and a seventh-grade student was arrested on suspicion of firing several shots from his father's gun at students and school security," the interior ministry said in a statement.

As police surrounded the school, footage from the scene revealed anxious parents waiting for their children near the school.

Source: News Express