In a stunning verdict that has sent shockwaves across Serbia, a Belgrade court has handed down lengthy prison sentences to the parents of the 13-year-old boy who went on a deadly shooting rampage at his elementary school last year, killing nine of his fellow students and a security guard before he could be stopped. The case, which has dominated headlines in the Balkan nation and prompted widespread soul-searching over youth violence and access to firearms, saw the shooter’s parents, Vladimir and Miljana Kecmanovic, jailed for 14 years and six months, and three years respectively, after a trial that could not criminally prosecute the teenage perpetrator himself due to his young age.
The May 2023 massacre at the Vladislav Ribnikar school in central Belgrade, carried out by a seventh-grade student armed with his father’s pistol, deeply traumatized the Serbian public, which has little experience with the kind of mass school shootings that have repeatedly devastated communities in the United States. While gun ownership is common in Serbia, which has a strong hunting and sporting tradition, such senseless slaughters in an educational setting are virtually unprecedented, leading to a national bout of grief and anger.
Prosecutors Focus on Parents’ Responsibility
With the shooter himself untouchable by the courts due to his status as a minor, judicial authorities instead zeroed in on the culpability of his parents. Over the course of the closely-watched trial, prosecutors built a case arguing that the father, Vladimir Kecmanovic, had not only trained his son in marksmanship at a shooting range, but had recklessly allowed him access to his weapons, including the very handgun and ammunition that the boy smuggled into school in his backpack on that fateful morning.
“The accused, Vladimir Kecmanovic, was found guilty of committing the criminal offences of a grave offence against public safety and neglect and abuse of a minor. The accused, Miljana Kecmanovic, was found guilty of neglect and abuse of a minor,” the court said in its statement.
For her part, Miljana Kecmanovic was cleared of more serious charges related to weapons offenses, but still received a three-year term for parental neglect. The shooting instructor who allegedly oversaw the boy’s firearms training was also convicted and sentenced to 15 months behind bars, as the court sought to mete out a measure of justice and assign responsibility for an unfathomable crime.
Victims’ Families Demand Accountability
The stiff sentences were greeted with grim satisfaction by the families of the young victims, ten candles flickering in the courthouse hallway to represent the extinguished lives. While prosecutors have already vowed to appeal for even tougher punishments against the father and shooting instructor, and the defendants’ lawyers have similarly announced plans to contest the convictions, some relatives expressed frustration that these trials could not address the shooting itself.
“No one had been convicted for the massacre,” lamented Ninela Radicevic, mother of one of the slain girls. The families are pursuing additional civil lawsuits against the shooter’s parents in an effort to secure some sliver of justice for their devastating losses.
The young assailant himself, meanwhile, remains confined to a psychiatric institution, emerging only once to deliver testimony against his parents last October in a closed-door session. While he will likely bear the scars of his horrific crime for the rest of his days, the now 14-year-old has been spared the full weight of the criminal justice system due to his tender age at the time of the attack.
Tragedy Marks Turning Point for Serbia
For the Serbian public, the Vladislav Ribnikar massacre and a shockingly similar mass shooting that unfolded just days later in a rural village, represented a national tragedy and moment of reckoning. The twin attacks galvanized opposition to the country’s lax gun laws, its cultural glorification of violent machismo, and the societal rot of the post-war period.
In the weeks after the Belgrade shooting, tens of thousands poured into the streets in anti-government demonstrations, demanding the resignation of officials and a concerted effort to stamp out the veneration of gangsters that has infected Serbian popular culture.
The political establishment, however, has proven resistant to change. While the government has pledged to mark May 3-4 as national days of remembrance for victims of the back-to-back mass shootings, few substantive reforms have yet to materialize. As Serbian society grapples with this trauma and families seek some small measure of closure through the courts, the nation’s soul-searching is only beginning.
Key Takeaways from a National Tragedy
- Parents of 13-year-old school shooter jailed in Serbia for enabling his access to firearms.
- Massacre of 10 at Belgrade school sends shockwaves through nation unaccustomed to campus violence.
- Shooting range instructor also sentenced for providing firearms training to underage assailant.
- Victims’ families demand accountability in the courts but limited by shooter’s status as a minor.
- Twin tragedies in 2023 spark anti-violence protests but political class resists major reforms.
Our thoughts remain with the victims’ families and all those touched by this unspeakable tragedy as Serbia seeks healing and works to build a society of greater peace and responsibility.
