School Shooting In Bosnia Highlights Gun Violence in Balkans

Updated on June 16, 2023

• On June 14, one month after two mass shootings shocked neighboring Serbia, a 13-year-old shot his former teacher at an elementary school in Bosnia.
• The 38-year-old teacher has been identified as Ismet Osmanovic. He worked at Lukavac Elementary School and was seriously wounded. He is in a stable condition but remains in critical care.
• The identity of the shooter has not been released but police confirmed that he was expelled from the school earlier this year for unruly behavior.
• The Mayor of Lukavac, Edin Delic, posted on Facebook, "There are no children [wounded], so I ask parents to control their panic. The perpetrator is a minor child and he was immediately arrested. A difficult day."
• The legacy of the Balkan Wars has led to a high degree of gun ownership in the region. According to a report by the Small Arms Survey,  31 out of every 100 Bosnian citizens own a gun, many of them illegal.

Updated on May 12, 2023

• Following back-to-back shootings that left seventeen people dead last week, the Interior Ministry has called for citizens to turn in all unregistered weapons between now and June 8.
• Citizens who comply will not face charges, but those who ignore the order will risk prosecution and a prison sentence.
• Police official Jelena Lakicevic said:

"We invite all citizens who possess illegal weapons to respond to this call, to go to the nearest police station and hand in weapons for which they do not have proper documents."

• Serbian Education Minister Branko Ruzic also resigned in the aftermath of the first shooting, at Vladisav Ribnikar elementary school.
• He explained his decision on Twitter:

"At the end of three days of national mourning, as a responsible and educated man, professional in performing all previous public duties, as a parent and citizen of Serbia, I made the only rational and honorable decision in these circumstances."

Updated on May 5, 2023

• The second mass shooting within a week in Serbia has shocked the country and highlights the growing threat of gun violence internationally.
• A man has been arrested after killing eight people and injuring 14 others in an attack 37 miles from Belgrade. The event occurred after midnight when the suspect started shooting indiscriminately with an automatic weapon from a moving vehicle in the villages of Mladenovac and Dubona.
• Serbian media reported that the suspect, a 21-year-old, started firing after an argument with a police officer in a Dubona park.
• After a short search, police found him hiding in his grandfather's house, where they also discovered hand grenades, an automatic rifle, and ammunition. Police have also arrested the suspect's grandfather and uncle.
• In a speech following the tragedy, President Aleksander Vucic said the gunman was wearing a T-shirt with neo-Nazi symbols at the time of the shooting. In light of the two fatal shootings, Vucic said he would take steps toward the "practical disarmament" of the country by banning new gun permits, increasing penalties for illegal gun ownership, and enforcing psychological checks on gun owners.
• He continued, calling the shooting "an attack on us all" and vowed to hire 1,200 new police officers. He said:

"There will be justice. These monsters will never see the light of the day, neither the little monster nor the little older monster." 

What's the story?

• Serbia is consumed with grief and disbelief after the arrest of a seventh-grade 13-year-old boy who killed eight children — seven girls and one boy — and a security guard at a school in Belgrade on Wednesday.
• The security guard, Dragan Vlahovic, was killed while trying to intervene and stop the attack. Six children and a teacher were also seriously injured in the attack.
• The student and his father, who had previously taken him to a shooting range and taught him how to shoot, are both in custody. The suspect is too young under Serbia's criminal code to be held criminally responsible but will be placed in a psychiatric facility.

What happened?

• The teen entered the Vladisav Ribnikar elementary school on Wednesday, May 3, and opened fire with pistols he had taken from his father's home. He also came armed with four homemade Molotov cocktails.
• The police have released more information on the shooting, saying that the suspect, identified as Kosta Kecmanović, had planned the attack in advance and had written a list of children he wanted to kill.
• The police also confirmed that the suspect had called their office himself after committing the atrocities, telling them what he had done.

What is the response?

• Serbia has declared a three-day period of national mourning over the tragedy. During this period, broadcasters cannot show comedies or light entertainment, and all radio broadcasts must be played in a melancholic, minor key.
• Serbia's interior minister, Bratislav Gašić, said: 

"The father claimed the arms were locked in a safe with a code, but apparently the kid had the code. He took the pistols and three magazines with 15 bullets each."

• Belgrade resident Anita Lainovic said:

 "Nobody thought this could happen here in this neighborhood, here in Serbia."

• Hundreds of people have shown solidarity with the victims by donating blood and campaigning for others to do the same.
• President Aleksandar Vucic vowed to introduce a raft of new legislation to stem the threat of growing gun violence. He wants to create a moratorium on new gun licenses not intended for hunting and establish enhanced surveillance of shooting ranges. 
• Serbian NBA basketball player Luka Doncic said he would pay for the funerals of all the people killed.

What are the stats on gun violence in Serbia?

• The shooting has prompted a larger conversation about Serbia's gun culture. Although it has a low gun violence rate, it has one of the highest rates of gun ownership in the world due in part to the legacy of the Balkan Wars.
• A 2018 Small Arms Survey study found 39 guns for every 100 Serbians, the highest in Europe and the fifth-highest globally. The survey found that while 1.2 million guns are legally registered, approximately 1.5 million are not.
• For comparison, the U.S. has 120 guns per 100 residents, the highest rate in the world.

What can we do as a global community to reduce gun violence?

—Emma Kansiz 

(Photo Credit: Twitter/NEXTA)