Serbia was in disbelief Friday after not less than eight individuals have been killed and 14 others injured within the nation’s second mass taking pictures this week.
One suspect has to this point been arrested following an hourslong manhunt all through the night time, the police stated.
Hours earlier, close to Mladenovac – about 60 kilometers (37 miles) south of the capital – a 21-year-old gunman armed with an computerized weapon opened fireplace from a transferring car earlier than fleeing, state-run RTS tv reported.
The taking pictures spree unfold throughout three separate villages within the space, in line with the state media outlet.
The taking pictures prompted a manhunt by means of the night time as police combed the woods close to the capital Belgrade. An Agence France-Presse (AFP) photographer noticed a helicopter circling overhead with a highlight showing to seek for the fugitive gunman.
“Following a wide search police arrested U.B.,” police stated in an announcement, utilizing solely the suspect’s initials.
“He is suspected to have killed 8 and injured 14 people overnight. The injured are hospitalized.”
RTS stated the person had been arrested close to Kragujevac, a metropolis in central Serbia.
The incident comes on the heels of the worst college taking pictures in Serbia’s latest historical past, after a 13-year-old killed 9 individuals, together with eight fellow college students, at a college in downtown Belgrade on Wednesday.
The back-to-back mass shootings have left the nation in a state of shock, with hundreds flocking to makeshift memorial websites whereas others have queued to donate blood.
As the solar started to rise early Friday, there was a heavy police presence within the area of the most recent taking pictures.
Roughly 600 police personnel had been deployed to the world, in line with RTS, with members of an elite anti-terrorist unit patrolling the freeway.
The street resulting in the villages of Malo Orasje and Dubona had additionally been sealed by authorities.
Worried family gathered exterior the emergency medical middle in Belgrade, the place not less than eight of the injured have been hospitalized, N1 tv reported.
Health Minister Danica Grujicic briefly visited the middle.
Interior Minister Bratislav Gasic known as the taking pictures a “terrorist act,” RTS reported.
Serbia is about to start a three-day mourning interval Friday, throughout what is generally a festive time with individuals flocking open air and filling cafes to fulfill with mates and households.
‘Difficult days’
Mass college shootings are extraordinarily uncommon in Serbia and President Aleksandar Vucic known as Wednesday’s tragedy “one of the most difficult days” in latest historical past.
In a nationwide handle after the varsity taking pictures, Vucic proposed stricter gun management measures, together with a two-year moratorium on issuing permits for firearms.
The Interior Ministry has appealed to all firearm homeowners to maintain their weapons locked in safes – warning those that don’t abide may have their weapons seized.
Gun possession is comparatively excessive in Serbia, the place taking pictures ranges are common however particular permits are required to own firearms.
The wars within the Balkans through the Nineties amid the bloody breakup of Yugoslavia additionally noticed a lot of weapons flow into within the area.
The Vladislav Ribnikar elementary college remained closed off Thursday, with police guarding the doorway to the constructing.
Large crowds of mourners continued to flock to the varsity to pay their respects, inserting flowers, toys and candles alongside the pavement.
On Thursday night, individuals within the Croatian capital Zagreb and the Bosnian Serb administrative capital Banja Luka additionally lit candles and laid flowers for the victims.
Masses for the victims have been held in Belgrade church buildings whereas the top of the Serbian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Porfirije, known as the taking pictures a “catastrophe, the likes of which has never happened in our nation and our homeland”.
In the final mass taking pictures within the Mladenovac space, a villager killed 13 family and neighbors in April 2013.
Source: www.dailysabah.com
