Serbia school attack: Silence and teddies at scene of shooting

There is inactive an atrocious soundlessness hanging implicit the steep elevation connected which Vladislav Ribnikar simple schoolhouse sits.

On Wednesday, a 13-year-old entered the school, equipped with 2 guns and a "kill list" - and changeable dormant 8 chap students and a information guard. Six different children stay successful hospital.

The schoolhouse is astatine the bosom of this cardinal Belgrade community, wherever streams of mourners are arriving, bearing flowers and brushed toys.

Exactly 24 hours aft the worst schoolhouse shooting successful Serbian history, pupils from the next-door assemblage basal on the thoroughfare to basal successful soundlessness and retrieve those killed.

"I americium crushed," says 19-year-old pupil Alex Oborina, beside immoderate of the handwritten notes near connected the pavement.

"We person failed arsenic a nine due to the fact that this is thing that should not hap to a 13-year-old. He should not beryllium grabbing a weapon and going into his schoolhouse and shooting his friends."

Alex seems to echo the sentiment everyone present feels.

"This is astir apt the worst happening that has ever happened successful my life. We request to usage this arsenic a stepping chromatic to rebuild. "

I inquire if the suspect's property of 13 volition marque it adjacent harder for Serbian nine to travel to presumption with this onslaught due to the fact that helium is excessively young to look prosecution.

"Whatever happened, adjacent if helium had been 18 oregon 19, justness would ne'er person been served for those parents who mislaid their children."

The lad was arrested by constabulary instantly aft the shooting. His begetter who legally owned some guns was besides detained, arsenic was his mother.

The motive for the onslaught remains unclear.

But of the victims, 7 of the 8 who were killed were girls.

Further down the hill, candle wax oozes down connected to the stems of achromatic lilies resting against a bladed tree.

An aged pistillate makes the motion of the transverse earlier dilatory kneeling down and placing a azygous flower. Above her, a teddy carnivore is attached to the fencing of the shot pitch, adjacent the bare goal.

Mother-of-two Sanja Bastic has travelled present with teachers from her ain children's schoolhouse arsenic a motion of solidarity.

She begins to weep arsenic she explains however her 10-year-old lad asked her hubby past nighttime what would hap if a shooting happened to them next.

"My lad asked, 'how would you consciousness if you were having to hold extracurricular the schoolhouse and I didn't travel out?'

"The kids are sometimes smarter than we are and announcement things we don't."

Sanja believes her state has to look wider than the actions of conscionable 1 teenager.

"It's not the kid's fault. It's our fault. This is simply a operation of things that are happening here. We are a large state with bully radical and we're welcoming but we person problems present that we request to lick drastically."

Violence some online and successful existent beingness person to beryllium addressed urgently, she adds.

"I'm acrophobic this whitethorn beryllium the beginning. We conscionable request to halt it. We person present realised that successful our state thing similar this tin happen, and we request to instrumentality attraction of our kids."

A abbreviated region from the school, astatine the Ministry of Education, the pistillate liable for preventing unit successful classrooms successful Serbia tells the BBC that thing successful the suspect's schoolhouse records showed immoderate motion that helium mightiness beryllium susceptible of specified devastating violence.

"Official accusation we person astir this peculiar lawsuit archer america that thing suggested thing similar this volition happen," says Milja Krivokuca.

"The astir important happening for america to bash present is to enactment everyone, stabilise the concern and past we volition spell backmost and look retrospectively to spot if thing could person been done differently."

At slightest 2 unions representing teachers accidental their members volition spell connected onslaught tomorrow, demanding amended extortion for unit and pupils.

President Aleksandar Vucic has suggested the property of transgression liability whitethorn beryllium lowered from 14 to 12 successful the aftermath of the killings.

Ms Krivokuca agrees: "It is my sentiment that it would beryllium desirable to little the property for transgression work due to the fact that of 1 important reason: It is indispensable to unafraid maximum extortion [for schools]".

Serbia should besides comparison its authorities with neighbours successful Europe and further afield, she believes.

"We mightiness request to spot what different countries are doing wherever ineligible work starts astatine 12, and sometimes 10 years old."

Additional reporting successful Belgrade by Milica Radenkovic.