by tyler | May 3, 2023 | CNN, europe
A teenage boy opened fire in a school in the Serbian capital of Belgrade just after lessons began on Wednesday morning, killing eight children and a security guard and seriously injuring several others, officials said.
The boy – a 13-year-old student at the school – allegedly sketched out the attack in advance on crumpled pieces of paper that officials displayed at a somber press conference. He called police himself after the shootings, they said.
The rare and possibly unprecedented event, in a nation with strict firearms laws yet high levels of gun ownership, sent shockwaves through the local community and beyond.
First reports of the shooting emerged not long after students arrived to begin the day at Vladislav Ribnikar Elementary School, a well-known institution in Vračar, an upscale area of the Serbian capital. Panicked parents rushed to the scene.
Seven girls and one boy were killed, alongside the security guard, Belgrade’s Police Chief Veselin Milić said at a press conference. A further six children and one teacher were hospitalized, Serbia’s Ministry of Internal Affairs said.
The suspect opened fire in a history classroom, “because it was near the entrance of the school,” he added.
He killed the security guard first, then went to another classroom where she shot some of his schoolmates, Milić said. The teenager then telephoned the police and waited to be arrested in the schoolyard.
The alleged shooter was later filmed being taken from the school in handcuffs with a jacket over his head and wearing blue, skinny jeans. He was flanked by police officers and driven away in an unmarked police car.
Serbian Interior Minister Bratislav Gasic said that the suspect’s father was also arrested, adding that it was known that he had previously visited a shooting range with his son, whose age was first given as 14.
According to Gasic, the boy brought two guns from home. “The parent had several pieces of weapon and kept them locked up. The safe had a code. Obviously the kid had the code as soon as he managed to get hold of those two guns. And three frames full of 15 bullets each.”
Milić, the police chief, said the boy had a 9mm pistol and a small caliber pistol in a bag, as well as four Molotov cocktails.
Officials said the shooting was premeditated, and displayed sheets of paper that allegedly showed the suspect’s plans for the attack.
Parents struggled to come to terms with the shooting. The father of one student said he ran to the school to look for his daughter after seeing police at the scene, according to CNN affiliate N1.
“My child is still in shock, full of adrenaline, we haven’t been able to calm her down,” a mother of one child told N1.
Another father recounted a chaotic morning. “I was heading to the bank, and I saw a bunch of police. That was around 8:50. I came running. I saw the school psychologist, I saw the school staff, the teachers who were in shock,” the father told N1.
“The police came quickly, from what I could see. I asked: ‘Where’s my kid?’ And allegedly, one man said that the history teacher was shot. I went back to my apartment to look at my child’s schedule, and she was actually in history class. I took my wife with me and we went back out on the street,” he said.
“I saw that the security guard was lying under a table, in a circle [of blood] I went through the door looking for an attendant. I didn’t know what to do. I asked ‘Where’s my kid?’ and no one was saying anything,” the father said.
The man later learned that his daughter had escaped unharmed.
The interior ministry said in a statement on Facebook that it was told of the incident at 8.40 a.m. local time (2.40 a.m. ET). “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 statement said.
A schoolgirl injured in the shooting has life-threatening wounds and was undergoing surgery, N1 reported.
“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.
“All police forces are still on the ground and are intensively working to shed light on all the facts and circumstances that led to this tragedy,” it added.
Serbia has a high level of gun ownership following its conflict with Kosovo in the 1990s; a 2018 study found that the country has the third highest level of gun ownership in the world, tied with Montenegro and behind only the US and Yemen.
But the country has strict gun laws and has issued amnesties for owners to hand in or register illegal firearms, meaning that mass shootings are comparatively rare, according to Reuters.
by tyler | May 3, 2023 | CNN, europe
A 14-year-old boy opened fire in his prestigious school in the Serbian capital Belgrade on Wednesday morning, killing eight children and a security guard and seriously injuring several others, according to officials.
The rare and shocking incident prompted panic among parents at the school, many of whom gathered outside the facility and were desperately trying to reach their children.
Seven girls and one boy were killed, alongside the security guard, Belgrade’s Police Chief Veselin Milić said at a press conference.
The suspect opened fire in a history classroom, “because it was near the entrance of the school,” he added. The teenager then called the police himself and waited to be arrested in the schoolyard, Milić said.
A further six children and one teacher have been hospitalized, according to Serbia’s Ministry of Internal Affairs.
The alleged shooter was later filmed being taken from the school in handcuffs with a jacket over his head and wearing blue, skinny jeans. He was flanked by police officers and driven away in an unmarked police car.
Nearby, parents struggled to come to terms with the shooting, which shook the country on Wednesday. The father of one student said he ran to the school to look for his daughter after seeing police at the scene, according to CNN affiliate N1.
“My child is still in shock, full of adrenaline, we haven’t been able to calm her down,” a mother of one child told N1.
Another father recounted a chaotic morning. “I was heading to the bank, and I saw a bunch of police. That was around 8:50. I came running. I saw the school psychologist, I saw the school staff, the teachers who were in shock,” the father told N1.
“The police came quickly, from what I could see. I asked: ‘Where’s my kid?’ And allegedly, one man said that the history teacher was shot. I went back to my apartment to look at my child’s schedule, and she was actually in history class. I took my wife with me and we went back out on the street,” he said.
“I saw that the security guard was lying under a table, in a circle [of blood?] I went through the door looking for an attendant. I didn’t know what to do. I asked ‘Where’s my kid?’ and no one was saying anything,” the father said.
The man later learned that his daughter had escaped unharmed.
The interior ministry 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, a well-known institution 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 statement said.
A schoolgirl injured in the shooting has life-threatening wounds and was undergoing surgery, N1 reported.
“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.
“All police forces are still on the ground and are intensively working to shed light on all the facts and circumstances that led to this tragedy,” it added.
Serbia has a high level of gun ownership following its conflict with Kosovo in the 1990s; a 2018 study found that the country has the third highest level of gun ownership in the world, tied with Montenegro and behind only the US and Yemen.
But the country has strict gun laws and has issued amnesties for owners to hand in or register illegal firearms, meaning that mass shootings are comparatively rare, according to Reuters.
by tyler | May 1, 2023 | CNN, europe
A former US Marine, Cooper “Harris” Andrews, 26, was killed on the outskirts of Bakhmut late last week, according to his mother and colleagues in Ukraine.
Andrews, from Cleveland, Ohio, was hit by a mortar, his mother, Willow Andrews said, likely on April 19 on the so-called “Road of Life” – a rare access road into Bakhmut used by the Ukrainian military to resupply their forces but also evacuate civilians.
Andrew’s body has yet to be recovered, she said, owing to the ongoing fighting around the city, whose outsized symbolic importance has led to intense fighting as Moscow desperately tries to seize it.
Andrews worked for an activist group known as the Resistance Committee, according to their social media statements. They said he was killed assisting the evacuation of civilians from the city. Andrews left Cleveland, Ohio in November and joined the Foreign Legion in Ukraine, a group of foreign fighters helping the Ukrainian military. His contract ended in March, Mrs. Andrews said, and he decided to stay on.
The US Department of State said on Monday it could “confirm the death of a US citizen in Ukraine,” without naming the individual.
“We are in touch with the family and providing all possible consular assistance,” a State Department spokesperson said. “Out of respect for the family’s privacy during this difficult time, we have nothing further to add.”
CNN has reached out to the Ukrainian military for comment but has yet to hear back.
by tyler | May 1, 2023 | CNN, europe
The artist behind a sculpture of a walrus that was controversially euthanized over public safety concerns says she hopes her creation becomes a “three-dimensional history lesson” after it was unveiled in Norway’s capital Oslo.
The life-sized bronze statue shows Freya the walrus curled up on her side close to the water’s edge. The artwork was funded by an online campaign, which raised $25,000 (£19,000).
Freya became a social media sensation last year, with tourists and locals thronging to see her.
The young female had been spending time at the Oslo Fjord, an inlet on the country’s southeastern coast, and was seemingly unafraid of humans, unlike most walruses. Videos showed the walrus clambering onto small boats to sunbathe.
She became a danger to visitors who ignored the Norwegian Directorate of Fisheries orders to keep a clear distance from her, instead getting up close to take photos of the mammal and even throwing objects at her. This prompted the directorate to make the decision to put her down, leaving many across the country enraged.
The statue’s artist, Astri Tonoian, told CNN how she was happy to work on the project “almost for free” as it was an issue that was close to her heart. She hopes it will serve as a “three-dimensional history lesson.”
“In my head, my goal was to make an immortal symbol of people’s ability to mistreat not just wildlife but also humans,” she said.
She believes that Norway’s Directorate of Fisheries should have dealt with the situation in a more ethical manner. “The authorities could have acted more quickly and tried to move her instead of shooting her. They waited too long and it became dangerous for the people. They decided to do the ‘quick fix’.”
She added that the intention with the statue is not to make people hate the authorities as one entity, but instead “question the system” as a whole.
Previously, the directorate told CNN that it was considering multiple solutions, including relocating Freya out of the fjord. But “the extensive complexity of such an operation made us conclude that this was not a viable option,” Director General Frank Bakke-Jensen said. He added: “We have great regard for animal welfare, but human life and safety must take precedence.”
Female walruses typically weigh between 600 and 900 kilograms, or around 1,300 to 2,000 pounds. Usually, the marine mammals are wary of humans and stay on the outer edges of Norway’s coast.
by tyler | Apr 28, 2023 | CNN, europe
Russia unleashed what is believed to have been the deadliest attack on Ukrainian civilians in months on Friday, killing at least 23 people in an early-morning missile strike on an apartment block in the city of Uman.
The attack, which drew international condemnation, came around 4 a.m. local time, when a barrage of long-range cruise missiles was launched from Russian aircraft in the Caspian Sea area, according to the Ukrainian Air Force. Twenty-one of the twenty-three missiles were intercepted by Ukrainian air defenses, it claimed.
But missiles hit the central Ukrainian cities of Uman, in the Cherkasy region, and Dnipro. In Uman, a small city around 125 miles south of the capital Kyiv – and some 200 miles from the front line – two rockets hit three high-rise buildings, which included residential buildings and a warehouse.
Ukrainian Internal Affairs Minister Ihor Klymenko said there were 46 apartments inside one of the buildings that was hit, of which 27 were completely destroyed. He added that it may take a day to clear all the rubble.
At least four children were among the dead in Uman, according Ukraine’s interior ministry. Ukrainian President Volodymr Zelensky said earlier on Twitter that two children killed there couldn’t be identified, and the fate of their parents was unknown.
In Dnipro, two people were killed: a mother and her young child.
The Uman strike – by a Russian Kh-101 cruise missile – is thought to have caused the highest number of civilian casualties in a single incident since a missile struck an apartment block in Dnipro in January.
Several bodies were pulled out while a CNN team was at the scene. An eyewitness said he heard women and children screaming when he arrived at the building. A woman was taken to hospital, but later died, he said.
CNN also spoke to a local woman, Liuda, whose friend lived on the eighth floor. When she heard the building had been hit, Liuda rushed there to find that her friend had survived, but her friend’s husband had been hospitalized and their two daughters, aged 7 and 13, were still missing.
A woman named Arina, who lives on the ninth floor of an apartment building next to the one that collapsed, told CNN that she immediately threw her son and daughter into the bathroom and covered them with pillows when the attack happened. She described how the noise was so loud she didn’t think that they would survive.
Her voice cracked as she told CNN how the strikes had shaken the small community and left her feeling terrified.
Local residents told CNN that there hadn’t been a strike of this scale on the city since March last year.
A school next door to the apartment block has been transformed into a gathering place for the families. The building has already been filled with humanitarian aid including clothing, food and blankets.
In Dnipro, Ukrainian authorities said a 31-year-old woman was killed along with her 2-year-old child.
Serhii Lysak, governor of the Dnipropetrovsk region, said the woman had “moved to her parents’ house because of the war. She thought it would be safer… But now it’s in ashes.” The woman’s parents are both in hospital, Lysak said.
France condemned “in the strongest terms the renewed strikes carried out last night by Russia on Ukrainian territory,” the French foreign ministry said in a statement Friday.
The statement highlighted the Russian forces’ deliberate targeting of residential buildings in Uman which “resulted in a heavy toll of civilian casualties, including children.”
“Such targeting of Ukrainian infrastructure and civilian populations underlines Russia’s clear desire to continue escalating its war of aggression in Ukraine,” the ministry said.
French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna stressed that France will continue to provide support to the Ukrainian courts and to the International Criminal Court “in order to fight against impunity” for Russian war crimes.
by tyler | Apr 28, 2023 | CNN, europe
Russia unleashed what is believed to have been the deadliest attack on Ukrainian civilians in months on Friday, killing at least 22 people in an early-morning missile strike on an apartment block in the city of Uman.
The attack, which drew international condemnation, came around 4 a.m. local time, when a barrage of long-range cruise missiles was launched from Russian aircraft in the Caspian Sea area, according to the Ukrainian Air Force. Twenty-one of the twenty-three missiles were intercepted by Ukrainian air defenses, it claimed.
But missiles hit the central Ukrainian cities of Uman, in the Cherkasy region, and Dnipro. In Uman, a small city around 125 miles south of the capital Kyiv – and some 200 miles from the front line – two rockets hit three high-rise buildings, which included residential buildings and a warehouse.
Ukrainian Internal Affairs Minister Ihor Klymenko said there were 46 apartments inside one of the buildings that was hit, of which 27 were completely destroyed. He added that it may take a day to clear all the rubble.
Local officials told a CNN crew at the scene in Uman that three children were among the dead. Ukrainian President Volodymr Zelensky said earlier on Twitter that two children killed in Uman couldn’t be identified, and the fate of their parents was unknown.
In Dnipro, two people were killed: a mother and her young child.
The Uman strike – by a Russian Kh-101 cruise missile – is thought to have caused the highest number of civilian casualties in a single incident since a missile struck an apartment block in Dnipro in January.
Several bodies were pulled out while a CNN team was at the scene. An eyewitness said he heard women and children screaming when he arrived at the building. A woman was taken to hospital, but later died, he said.
CNN also spoke to a local woman, Liuda, whose friend lived on the eighth floor. When she heard the building had been hit, Liuda rushed there to find that her friend had survived, but her friend’s husband had been hospitalized and their two daughters, aged 7 and 13, were still missing.
A woman named Arina, who lives on the ninth floor of an apartment building next to the one that collapsed, told CNN how she immediately threw her son and daughter into the bathroom and covered them with pillows when the attack happened. She described how the noise was so loud she didn’t think that they would survive.
Her voice cracked as she told CNN how the strikes had shaken the small community and left her feeling terrified.
Local residents told CNN that there hadn’t been a strike of this scale on the city since March last year.
A school next door to the apartment block has been transformed into a gathering place for the families. The building has already been filled with humanitarian aid including clothing, food and blankets.
In Dnipro, Ukrainian authorities said a 31-year-old woman was killed along with her 2-year-old child.
Serhii Lysak, governor of the Dnipropetrovsk region, said the woman had “moved to her parents’ house because of the war. She thought it would be safer… But now it’s in ashes.” The woman’s parents are both in hospital, Lysak said.
France condemned “in the strongest terms the renewed strikes carried out last night by Russia on Ukrainian territory,” the French foreign ministry said in a statement Friday.
The statement highlighted the Russian forces’ deliberate targeting of residential buildings in Uman which “resulted in a heavy toll of civilian casualties, including children.”
“Such targeting of Ukrainian infrastructure and civilian populations underlines Russia’s clear desire to continue escalating its war of aggression in Ukraine,” the ministry said.
French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna stressed that France will continue to provide support to the Ukrainian courts and to the International Criminal Court “in order to fight against impunity” for Russian war crimes.
