According to officials, eight children have perished when a 14-year-old teenager allegedly started shooting in his elementary school in Belgrade, the capital of Serbia.
According to Serbia’s Ministry of Internal Affairs, a security guard was also killed, and six more children and a teacher were taken to hospitals.
According to the ministry, the 14-year-old student was allegedly targeting his own school and has since been taken into custody.
The department said in a statement on Facebook that it was informed at 8.40 a.m. local time (2.40 a.m. ET) that a school shooting had occurred at the Vladislav Ribnikar Elementary School in Vračar, an upscale area of the Serbian capital.
“All available police patrols were dispatched to the scene, where they immediately went onto the school grounds and apprehended a minor, a seventh-grader who is suspected to have fired several shots from his father’s gun at students and the school security guard.
“The wounded are being administered medical care, while the police work to establish the facts and circumstances that led to this incident,” the ministry statement said.
Correction: This story has been updated to reflect that Tanjug is no longer a government-owned news agency.