7th grader suspected of school shooting arrested in Belgrade

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Police arrest a teenager suspected of taking the lives of 9 people in a school shooting in Belgrade, Serbia on Wednesday, the Ministry of Interior stated. 

The shooting took place at 8:40 AM local time at an elementary school in downtown Belgrade which resulted in the death of 8 students and 1 security guard. 

The Ministry announced, "Eight children and a security guard were killed, while six children and one schoolteacher were wounded," adding "All police forces are still on the ground and are intensively working to uncover all the facts and circumstances that led to this tragedy." 
 
The President of Belgrade's Vracar district, Milan Nedeljkovic said that the security guard most likely prevented further killing by shielding others with his body as the assailant fired his gun at schoolchildren.

Astrid Merlini a parent of a child that attended the school on Wednesday said that the teachers were quick to find cover for students as the attack targeted those at the school.

"When (my daughter) saw the security guard fall, she immediately rushed back to class. She was scared. She told her teacher, there is a shooting upstairs," highlighting teachers' quick thinking as they "immediately sheltered the children, locked them in the class."

The Ministry of Interior revealed that the school shooting, a rare incident in Serbia, was carried out by a seventh grader who is "suspected of firing several shots from his father's gun in the direction of students and school security."

Broadcast footage showed distressed parents anxiously waiting for the fate of their children inside the school to be revealed as Police surrounded the building.

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