A knife-wielding teenager entered a school in the Croatian capital on Friday, stabbing a 7-year-old girl and wounding three other children and their teacher, authorities said.
The attack happened around 9:50 a.m. on the last day of school before Christmas at the Precko elementary school in the Zagreb district of the same name. Children between the ages of 7 and 15 attend the school.
“The attacker is a 19-year-old, a former student of this school who still lives nearby,” said Interior Minister Davor Bozinovic. “Eventually he started hurting himself. The police prevented him from committing suicide.”
Bozinovic said the attacker had mental health problems and had previously attempted suicide.
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“It’s hard to say that this person was mentally balanced,” he said.
“Five people have been hospitalized and their lives are not in danger,” Health Minister Irena Hrstic told the media. This number also includes the suspected attacker.
Attacks on schools are rare in Croatia and the Balkans as a whole, although one was carried out by a teenager in neighboring Serbia in May 2023 opened fire on a school In the capital Belgrade, nine classmates and a school guard were killed.
Video footage broadcast by Croatian media on Friday showed children fleeing the school building and a medical helicopter landing in the schoolyard.
Croatian authorities declared Saturday a day of mourning and canceled some Christmas celebrations. Candidates in the upcoming presidential election said they would temporarily pause their campaign because of the tragedy.
President Zoran Milanovic said: “There are no words to describe the sadness at the terrible and unimaginable tragedy that shocked us all today.”
Milanovic called for unity and efforts to ensure that schools are a safe and carefree place for children.
Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic told a government meeting he was “horrified” by the attack and authorities were still working to clarify the exact incident.
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Associated Press writers Jovana Gec and Dusan Stojanovic in Belgrade, Serbia, contributed to this story.
— With a file from Reuters
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