Parents of teenage attacker jailed

The parents of a boy who killed nine children and a security guard in a mass shooting at a school in Serbia last year have been arrested.

In May 2023 attackthe then 13-year-old killed nine children and a security guard at the Vladislav Ribnikar elementary school in Belgrade.

The boy’s father, Vladimir Kecmanoviæ, was sentenced to 14 and a half years in prison on Monday, while his mother, Miljana Kecmanoviæ, was sentenced to three years in prison.

Nemanja Marinkovic, the Partizan shooting team instructor who taught the boy how to use a gun, received a sentence of one year and three months.

The boy, who has been in a psychiatric hospital since the attack, cannot be charged because he is underage.

However, his parents were charged with a “gross act against public security” for failing to protect weapons and equipment properly. They denied the charges.

Their trial has been held behind closed doors.

At the main court in Belgrade on Monday, Vladimir was found guilty of endangering public safety by teaching his son to shoot and failing to protect his gun. He was also charged with child neglect.

Miljana was found guilty of child neglect but not found guilty of possession of weapons and ammunition.

The boy, known only as KK, was brought to court in October by a special escort, leaving the psychiatric hospital for the first time for the destruction of Vladislav Ribnikar’s elementary school.

He was interviewed as a witness by the judge, the public prosecutor and the defense as well as lawyers for the families of the dead and injured. He also answered the questions of the mother of the murdered child.

Parents of the slain children attended the trial in hopes of shedding light on why the boy was shot by a crowd of people.

A lawyer representing the families described it as “one of the most disturbing cases I have ever seen in my career”.

Eight of the nine children KK killed were girls.

Serbia plunged into yet another tragedy less than 48 hours later, when eight more people were killed by a 21-year-old man in a village outside the capital.

Following his testimony at his parents’ trial, the family’s lawyer told reporters that the boy was leading a normal life before the shooting and that no court could determine what led to his murder.