A girl has died nearly two weeks after being shot in Serbia’s first school shooting, becoming the 10th victim of the tragedy in Belgrade.
“Despite urgent surgery and all intensive care treatment undertaken, the patient, who suffered serious head injuries in the shooting in the school, died,” Serbia’s health ministry said on Monday.
Health Minister Danica Grujicic expressed her “deepest condolences” to the family.
The mass shooting on May 3 shocked Serbia and the surrounding Balkan region, where mass shootings are relatively rare. A 13-year-old schoolboy was arrested after eight children and a security guard died at the scene.
The suspect was reportedly carrying two guns and brought four Molotov cocktails with him in a carefully planned attack.
He called the police from the school courtyard, telling them, “I’m a psychopath and need to calm down,” according to Veselin Milic, the chief of Belgrade police.
Seven people were wounded – one teacher and six students, including the girl who was rushed to hospital for brain surgery.
A three-day mourning period was declared after the school shooting, a first for the country.
Protests
After the school shooting, Belgrade was shaken by another attack as a 21-year-old man was accused of killing eight people and wounding 14 with an assault rifle in a drive-by shooting.
Tens of thousands of people protested last week in the capital and other cities, calling for top officials to resign and a ban on violent TV content to be put in place.
President Aleksandar Vucic pledged to launch a large-scale disarmament plan while police deployed officers to patrol around schools.
A general amnesty was also opened in the country to reduce the number of illicit firearms. Officials said about 13,500 weapons had been turned over since then.
Serbia has the highest level of gun ownership in Europe with more than 39 weapons for every 100 civilians, according to the Small Arms Survey project.
