Mladenovac and Smederevo shootings

On the evening of 4 May 2023, a 21-year-old Serbian man carried out a shooting spree in Dubona, Mladenovac, Belgrade, Serbia, and Malo Orašje, Smederevo. Armed with a semi-automatic rifle, he opened fire from a car, resulting in the deaths of eight individuals, including a police officer, and leaving fourteen others injured. The perpetrator fled the scene but was apprehended the next day near Kragujevac. This incident occurred one day after a school shooting in Belgrade.

4 May 2023 Serbia shootings
Mladenovac and Smederevo shootings is located in Serbia
Malo Orašje
Malo Orašje
Dubona
Dubona
LocationDubona, Mladenovac, Belgrade, and Malo Orašje, Smederevo, Serbia
Date4 May 2023 (2023-05-04)
Evening
TargetGeneral public
Attack type
Weapon
Deaths8
  • 5 in Malo Orašje
  • 3 in Dubona
Injured12–14
  • 6 in Malo Orašje
  • 4 in Dubona
  • 2–4 unreported
AccusedUroš Blažić

Background

Serbia has strict gun laws[note 1] but has one of the world's highest gun ownership rates per capita.[3][4] In 2021, with an estimated 39 privately-owned guns per 100 people, Serbia was the third-ranked country globally in this statistic, behind the United States and Yemen.[5] Along with a culture of gun ownership and many households keeping war trophies from the 20th-century wars, illegal weapons became widespread in some of the region's countries following the Yugoslav Wars in the 1990s.[4][5][6]

Mass shootings are rare in Serbia and the rest of the Balkans.[7] There have been four earlier mass shootings in the 21st century: the 2007 Jabukovac killings during which nine people were killed and five were injured, the 2013 Velika Ivanča shooting, which also occurred in Mladenovac and in which 14 people were killed, the 2016 Žitište shooting, in which five people were killed and 22 injured,[6] and the Vladislav Ribnikar Elementary School shooting in Belgrade which had occurred the day before, leading the Serbian government to propose stricter regulations on gun ownership.[8]

Shooting
🌍
This is a stopgap mapping solution, while attempts are made to resolve technical difficulties with {{OSM Location map}}
Key locations prior, during, and after the shootings.[9]
1
The shooter got in a quarrel with his friends in Mladenovac
2
He went to Šepšin for a rifle
3
He went to Malo Orašje where he shot 11 people
4
He went to Dubona where he shot 7 people
5
At the Mali Požarevac Tollbooth he seized a taxi
6
He ran off to Vinjište where he was arrested on the next day

The shooter, 21-year-old Uroš Blažić, quarrelled with his friends at a football stadium in Mladenovac. After that, he drove to Šepšin where he took weapons from his cottage.[9] Then, he went by car to Malo Orašje, where he shot 11 friends who were having a barbecue in the centre of the village, near the football field and the war victims' monument. Afterwards, he continued to Dubona. There, he first shot with a pistol at several older adults who were repairing the fence, causing them serious injuries. Then he continued to the schoolyard, located next to the road, where he killed three young people with a rifle and then, again with a pistol, wounded several more people.[10][11][12][13][14][15] All roads around Mladenovac towards Dubona and Šepšin were closed after the shooting.[16] The suspect was allegedly alone while the shooting occurred.[17]

External video
video icon Suspect arrested for murders in villages near Mladenovac on YouTube (1:25)

After the shootings, he left his car and stole another in Dubona, driving to the tollbooth near Mali Požarevac. There he stopped a taxi driver from Smederevo who was driving a pregnant woman. Threatening with a hand grenade, he demanded to be taken to a village near Kragujevac. Reportedly, the shooter let the pregnant woman out of the car after more than half an hour of driving. The police issued a warrant for his arrest and searched for him in Mali Požarevac, where he was last seen after the shootings.[18] The taxi then took him to Vinjište, near Kragujevac,[19] where he hid himself and was eventually arrested.[20][21][22][23]

Casualties

The incident resulted in the loss of eight lives. Among the victims in Dubona was an off-duty police officer, aged 22, his 19-year-old sister, and a 25-year-old man. Two 15-year-old boys and three men aged 18, 20, and 21 in Malo Orašje also lost their lives.[24][25][26][27]

According to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, fourteen others, including children, were injured.[28][29][21] The injured were sent to University Hospital Center Dr Dragiša Mišović.[18][30] The Minister of Health, Danica Grujičić, said that all of the wounded were in a life-threatening situation.[31] As of 11 May, only two of the wounded remained in a critical condition.[32]

Investigation

The suspect was brought to a police station in Smederevo on 5 May, and was later ordered to be detained for 48 hours.[33][34] The suspect admitted to committing the acts and said that he used an assault rifle and three pistols.[35] On 7 May, the High Court issued a judgment to keep him in custody for 30 days.[36]

The uncle and grandfather of the suspect were also arrested.[37] The police had found four bombs, a flare gun, a submachine gun, two silencers, a hunter's knife, and various ammunition in the house of the suspect's grandfather.[19][17][38] On 10 May, the police arrested the father of the suspect, lieutenant colonel Radiša Blažić, and found several hundred bullets and two handguns in his house.[39][40] On the next day, the High Court issued a judgment to keep the father in custody for 30 days.[41]

On 10 May, the rifle used in the shootings was found in Šepšin.[42]

Response

The Gendarmery, Special Anti-Terrorist Unit, and Helicopter unit were reported to have arrived at the villages of Mladenovac and Dubona.[18] According to Serbian media, police officers set up checkpoints and stopped cars as they searched for the gunman. Helicopters, drones, and multiple police patrols were also dispatched to the area surrounding Dubona.[8] Grujičić and the head of the Security Intelligence Agency, Aleksandar Vulin, reportedly travelled to the area.[8][18] A blood donation for the wounded was organised by the Ministry of Health.[43][44]

Aftermath
See also: Vladislav Ribnikar Elementary School shooting § Aftermath

Interior Minister Bratislav Gašić and President of Serbia Aleksandar Vučić denounced the shooting as a terrorist act.[29][45] At a press conference on 5 May, Vučić announced new measures and added that the suspect "will not see the light of day again", that "he will not get out of the prison", and that all people who have weapons will undergo an audit.[45] The new measures include a moratorium on gun permits, more medical and psychological checks on gun owners, and hiring 1,200 police officers to schools.[46] He also announced that the new measures will "almost completely disarm Serbia".[18][47] The measures were adopted by the government later that day.[48]

Protests

Following the shootings, opposition parties, namely the Ujedinjeni parliamentary group, People's Party, Do not let Belgrade drown, Together, Democratic Party, and Dveri announced that they would organise a protest against violence on 8 May.[49] The protestors met in front of the country's parliament before marching in silence through the streets near Sebian government offices to demanded the resignation of Vulin, Gašić, the Minister of Education Branko Ružić, and the council of the Regulatory Body for Electronic Media, as well as cancelling programmes that promote violence and shutting down media and tabloids that publish false news and violate the Journalistic Code.[49][50][51] In response, Prime Minister Ana Brnabić accused them of "politicising" the shootings.[52] The protest in Belgrade, according to the organisers, was attended by approximately 50,000 demonstrators.[53] The second protest was held on 12 May; it began in front of the building of the National Assembly of Serbia while the demonstrators continued walking to the Gazela Bridge and it ended at Sava Centar.[54] A day later, another "Serbia Against Violence" protest was held in Kragujevac.[55]

See also

Notes
  1. To own a gun in Serbia, citizens must prove a valid reason to own a gun, such as an ongoing threat to life or legitimate need for hunting or sport shooting, and must submit a medical report to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, which then instructs the submitter's personal physician to report whenever any relevant changes in their health occur.[1] The police may prohibit the possession of a weapon to an individual when they assess that the owner could misuse it.[2] Open carry is also not allowed, and concealed carry permits are rarely issued and require proof of a threat to life.[3]

References
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