2023-10-11 14:02:36
The investigation continues into the massacre which left 10 dead, including 9 students, in a school in Belgrade (Serbia) last May. The parents of the teenager accused of opening fire have been charged with “serious acts against general security” and illegal possession of ammunition, prosecutor Nenad Stefanovic announced on Tuesday.
The father trained his son for a year to “use firearms (…) to aim at concentric targets, targets in the shape of silhouettes, to hold a weapon, to breathe while handling it,” the latter detailed during ‘a press conference.
The adolescent taken care of in a psychiatric clinic
He is also accused of not having locked up his weapons and ammunition, which allowed his 13-year-old son to get his hands on two weapons that he had already used in training, and 92 bullets.
The boy loaded the guns, put them in his backpack and took them to school, where he killed 10 people. Aged 13 at the time of the events, he was not found criminally responsible for his actions, and was hospitalized in a psychiatric clinic in Belgrade.
Her mother is accused of illegally possessing ammunition, her DNA having been found on one of the bullets. The owner of the shooting club and an instructor were also charged with false testimony.
A vast movement against violence in Serbia
Less than 48 hours after the events, another massacre took place about sixty kilometers from Belgrade. A 21-year-old young man killed eight people with an automatic rifle and injured fourteen.
These two shootings traumatized the small Balkan country, where 39% of the population owns a firearm according to the Small Arms Survey (SAS) research project, the highest rate in Europe. Since then, thousands of Serbs have demonstrated against the omnipresence of violence in the media and to demand the resignation of political leaders. Every weekend, hundreds still demonstrate in Belgrade in what has become a movement called “Serbia against violence”.
Neither the Minister of the Interior nor the head of Intelligence, whose departure they are demanding, have been dismissed. According to Serbian law, the court must still decide whether a trial will take place.
#Parents #teenager #shot #people #school #charged