Serbia: Teenage boy opens fire in Belgrade school, 8 students, guard killed

Police said eight children and a security guard were killed when a teenage boy opened fire at a school in Serbia's capital of Belgrade on Wednesday.

At least six additional children and one teacher were also injured and are receiving emergency treatment.

The Interior Ministry said the 14-year-old shooter used his father's gun in the shooting at the Vladislav Ribnikar elementary school,

"The police sent all available patrols immediately to the spot and arrested a suspected minor — a seventh grade student who is suspected of firing several shots from his father's gun in the direction of students and school security," the ministry said in a statement.

The motive for the shooting was not clear and police gave no further details.

Parents rush to Vladislav Ribnikar

Police said they responded a call about the shooting around 8:40 local time. 

One of the children who witnessed the shooting told her father she was in the classroom when the shooting began.

"She managed to escape. (The boy) ...first shot the teacher and then he started shooting randomly," the girl's father, Milan Milosevic, told broadcaster N1.

Milosevic rushed to Vladislav Ribnikar elementary school when the shooting was first reported. 

"I saw the security guard lying under the table. I saw two girls with blood on their shirts. They say he (the shooter) was quiet and a good pupil. He recently joined their class," he said.

"I saw kids running out from the school, screaming. Parents came, they were in panic. Later I heard three shots," a girl who attends a high school adjacent to Vladislav Ribnikar told state TV RTS.

Footage from the scene showed commotion outside the school as police removed the suspect, whose head was covered as officers led him to a car parked in the street.

Mass shootings are rare in Serbia, which has stringent gun laws. However, many firearms left over from the wars of the 1990s are still in circulation.