Paul Kirby
Europe digital editor

Image source, re

It just takes a gun to get into the wrong hands.

In this case the two handguns used in this morning's deadly history class attack were taken from the home of the arrested boy's father, described as a well-known local radiologist.

The father, who has now been arrested by police, had legal permits for both guns.

Even though one recent report suggests gun ownership in Serbia and neighbouring Montenegro is the highest in Europe, many of those guns are illegally owned and date back to the Balkan Wars of the 1990s.

"I wouldn’t say that gun ownership is the issue here," says Bojan Elek, deputy director of the Belgrade Centre for Security Policy. "The government has done quite a lot to take away all these illegal guns. There are regular amnesty campaigns and a lot of international assistance."

That does not mean that Serbia has no broader gun problem.

But it does have well-defined rules for ownership involving training - and gun violence is very low.

Added to the unprecedented nature of this attack in Serbia, this may explain the deep shock felt across the country.

Image source, AFP

Six children and a teacher who were injured in the school shooting were taken to hospital.

The University Clinical Center of Serbia is one of those hospitals. Its director, Milika Asanin, says it received three students aged about 13, and a teacher who was born in 1970.

“One student came in a serious condition, he was admitted for resuscitation and transferred to the operating room. He is seriously wounded in the chest and neck area,” Asanin said.

Asanin said another boy was shot in the leg, while another, a girl, received gunshot wounds to the abdomen and both arms. The teacher was shot in the stomach and both hands, the hospital director added.

“All patients are in operating rooms,” Asanin said: “The operation of one student was completed and she is in a stable condition.”

Image source, AFP

The mother of a pupil who witnessed the shooting in Belgrade has described the moment her daughter heard the gun shots at the school.

Astrid Merlini told the AFP news agency her daughter saw the school's security guard collapse in front of her.

Merlini said she heard shots before that, but she thought they were firecrackers.

"But when she saw the security guard fall, she was scared, so she immediately rushed back to class. She told her teacher there was shooting upstairs," Merlini said.

She said the teacher sheltered the children and locked them in the classroom.

"Some of them were under the tables, but they were safe inside. I don’t know how much time after, they let them out," she added.

Another girl who was nearby when the attack happened said she saw screaming children running out from the school.

"They all hid there by a cafe," she said.

"The parents came, they were terrified, and then I heard from everyone what was happening, that some were wounded and killed."

Image source, Reuters

EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell has offered his condolences to all those affected by the shooting at the school in Belgrade, which he described as "very sad news".

Borrell said: "On behalf of us all, we express our sadness about the tragic shooting in the school in Belgrade this morning where at least nine persons including eight children were killed.

"We want to express our deep condolences for the families and close ones of the victims and wish a speedy recovery to the wounded."

The shooting was at the Vladislav Ribnikar school in the central Vracar neighbourhood of Belgrade. You can see where it is located on the map below.

Officers in helmets and bulletproof vests cordoned off the area around the school shortly after 08:40 local time (06:40 GMT).

Image source, .

Image source, Getty Images

Serbian officials have just addressed the media on the deadly school shooting in Belgrade, here's what they said:

• The attacker planned the shooting a month in advance with a list of children to target, and details of which classrooms he would go into first, police said
• The shooter drew up a plan of the school entrance and exit - found on his desk - and designated priority targets
• The suspect left his bag on his way into the school and had prepared four Molotov cocktails
• He immediately pulled out his gun at the entrance of the school and shot at the security guard
• The eight students killed included seven girls and one boy, with the youngest born in 2009
• Four boys and two girls were injured, including a girl who is in a critical condition after suffering a serious head injury. and a boy shot in the neck and chest who has a spinal injury
• The suspect had been a victim of peer violence, the education minister confirmed
• Three days of mourning have been declared across Serbia from 5-7 May

Ružić is asked what measures the state will take to prevent the promotion of violence in society.

The education minister says the "instruments and tools [the government] have at our disposable are definitely not efficient enough".

He says the government has a special working group on peer violence and it will be preparing laws and bylaws to address this issue.

"This is just part of the puzzle when it comes to peer violence - it is a social phenomenon, it's not something that occurs only in school," he says.

A reporter asks if the suspect can be prosecuted considering his age, to which the police spokesperson says the prosecutor will be responsible for deciding this.

He says this is a child who perpetrated a crime and according to teachers, this was an excellent student who never had any mental or emotional problems.

"But it was a serious crime against public security," he adds.

The police spokesperson says a 9mm gun was recovered by police.

The weapon was taken from the home of the attacker's father, he says.

The suspect pulled out the gun when he arrived at school and shot the security guard before turning it on an innocent child sitting at her table, the spokesperson says.

Speaking at the press conference, Health Minister Danica Grujičić says the teacher injured in the attack is in a dangerous condition.

The teacher suffered injury to the hand and pelvic area, she says.

A boy who was shot in the neck and chest ​has a spine injury and is among the worst injured, she says. He's being operated on, she adds.

Grujičić says another boy with an injured leg is being treated by doctors.

She says in the 40 years of her career this is the worst incident she's ever seen.

A member of the press asks the education minister if he's heard information from parents that the suspect was "a victim of peer violence".

Branko Ružić confirms he had, saying action was taken following reports of peer violence against the boy.

He adds there are reports from social workers and the hospital that there was "some violence perpetrated, which did not happen in school" and the case was closed with no further problems.

The shooter drew up a plan of the school entrance and exit - found on his desk - and he designated priority targets, police say.

The sketch looks like something out of a video game or horror film, the spokesman adds.

Finishing off his remarks, the police spokesman says the attacker planned how to get into particular classrooms and how to kill each child by classroom number.

Now it's over to questions from the media.

The police spokesperson says the attacker planned the shooting a month in advance.

The suspect had a list of children to target and planned in detail which classrooms he would go into first, the spokesperson said.

He says the attacker may have chosen a particular classroom because it was near the entrance.

The attacker's motive isn't yet known, he adds.

There's more now from the police spokesman, who says the gun recovered from the scene was a 9mm taken from his father's flat.

The shooter, on his way into the school, left his bag where he prepared four Molotov cocktails, the spokesman says.

Athe entrance of the school, the shooter immediately pulled out his gun and shot at the security guard DV.

He then turned his gun to an innocent child sitting at her table, the police spokesman says.

A police spokesman, whose name we haven't been told, is now addressing the press conference.

He confirms that the eight students killed were seven girls and one boy. Four further boys and two girls were injured.

The spokesman also releases the provisional initials and birth years of the children - the youngest children were born in 2009.

The headteacher called the police to say a child had entered the school with a weapon and started to shoot and police were immediately deployed, he says.

Grujičić goes on to say that "sadly a third girl has had a serious head injury and is in critical condition​".

"There's been an operation and all that can be done [has been] but they're still fighting for her life", the health minister says.

Three children are in a different hospital, she adds.

One girl has a stomach injury, and while no internal injuries have yet been found, her hand has also been hurt but she's stable at the moment, Grujičić says.

It's over to Health Minister Danica Grujičić now, who's close to tears as she confirms eight children and a "man who was just doing his job" have died.

"Sadly there is no possible way for them to come back," she says.

Grujičić adds two boys in hospital are in a stable condition.

Before handing over to Serbia health minister, Ružić says the government has today had very emotional and serious talks with Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić.

"We're sure the president will have a clearer picture soon​," he says.

Ružić takes an emotional pause and says the priority is to let relatives to see off their dearest in peace.

Ružić says Serbia is "sadly in this part of the world where things like these are happening more often".

He says there is "evidently a cancer - the influence of the internet, video games, western values".

"It's obvious to all of us that we need short term solutions and systemic change," he tells reporters.

Ružić says a minute's silence will be held in Serbia tomorrow morning.

There will be no school this afternoon, he adds.