BELGRADE, Serbia — A court in Serbia on Monday convicted the parents of a teenage boy who last year shot dead nine pupils and a school guard and wounded six more people in a school in central Belgrade. 

The Higher Court in Belgrade sentenced Vladimir Kecmanovic, father of the boy, to 14 years, six months in prison for “grave acts against public safety” and for child neglect. The mother, Miljana Kecmanovic, was sentenced to three years in prison for child neglect but was acquitted on charges of illegal possession of weapons. 

The shooter, identified as Kosta Kecmanovic, was 13 years old when he committed the crime and therefore too young to face a trial, according to Serbian law. His parents were detained soon after the shooting and charged for failing to keep the weapons out of reach of their son. 

The massacre at the Vladislav Ribnikar primary school in central Belgrade on May 3, 2023, shocked the Balkan nation, which was used to crises but had not dealt with a mass school shooting. 

The couple’s lawyer, Irina Borovic, said the verdict came as no surprise “because public pressure was enormous, and the expectations were huge.” Borovic said she would appeal the verdicts. 

Ninela Radicevic, who lost her daughter in the shooting, said, “We are not satisfied because no one was held responsible for the murder of nine children” and the school guard. 

The boy used his father’s guns to shoot fellow pupils and others. He walked into the school and first opened fire in a hall before heading into a classroom, where he continued shooting. 

Elementary schools in Serbia enroll students 7 to 15 years old. 

Police have said that the teenager called them after the shooting and calmly said what he had done. He has been held in a specialized institution since the shooting and testified at his parents’ trial. The proceedings were closed to the public except for the reading of the verdicts. 

Also convicted and sentenced to 15 months in prison for false testimony was a shooting instructor who worked at a range where the boy practiced. 

The school shooting was followed the next day by another mass killing in villages outside Belgrade. Uros Blazic, 21, took an automatic rifle and opened fire at multiple locations, killing nine people and wounding 12. He was sentenced earlier this month to 20 years in prison. 

The back-to-back shootings triggered a wave of street protests and a crackdown on widespread illegal gun ownership.
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