WARSAW — A 60-year-old man went on a shooting rampage in a village near Belgrade early on Tuesday, killing 13 people, including his son, his wife and a two-year-old child before attempting suicide, police officials and Serbian media reports said.
The police and the Serbian media said that the man, identified as Ljubisa Bogdanovic, used a handgun to kill six men, six women and the child. Serbian Police director Milorad Veljovic said the gunman’s motive was not immediately known. Mr. Bogdanovic had lost his job last year, the Serbian media reported, and was a veteran of the Balkan wars of the 1990s, having fought in Croatia in 1992.
The apparently random killings happened between 5 a.m. and 5:30 a.m. in the sleepy village of Velika Ivanca, 30 miles, southeast of Belgrade. Police officials said Mr. Bogdanovic first shot his son in the head, before leaving his home and going from house to house, where he killed several of his neighbors and relatives, some of whom were sleeping. Mr. Veljovic said the neighbors in the close-knit village had left their doors unlocked and all were shot in the head.
The gunman killed his wife at the end of the spree and then tried to commit suicide after police surrounded his home, the police said. He was in critical condition at a hospital in central Belgrade.
Mr. Veljovic, who was at the scene, told Serbian state television that 12 victims died instantly and another died of his wounds at a Belgrade hospital. He said that an investigation was under way.
“This affected five homes, relatives and neighbors. At this moment we have nobody to talk to because five houses have been effectively shut down,” Mr. Veljovic said, according to B92, the independent Serbian broadcaster.
Mr. Bogdanovic was characterized by neighbors as a nonviolent and seemingly amiable man, who had not previously attracted attention. They said he was not known to have a history of mental illness or a criminal record. The Serb media reported that he had a license for the gun used in the shootings weapon since 1981.
The killings were met with shock and disbelief in Serbia, a poor Balkan country which lived through the bloody Balkan wars of the 1990s but has experienced little random gun violence. The country is known to have stockpiles of weapons leftover from the war and possessing a firearm as a form of personal protection is not uncommon.
The last mass murder in Serbia took place in 2007 in the village of Jabukovac, in eastern Serbia, where a man killed nine people.
The police and the Serbian media said that the man, identified as Ljubisa Bogdanovic, used a handgun to kill six men, six women and the child. Serbian Police director Milorad Veljovic said the gunman’s motive was not immediately known. Mr. Bogdanovic had lost his job last year, the Serbian media reported, and was a veteran of the Balkan wars of the 1990s, having fought in Croatia in 1992.
The apparently random killings happened between 5 a.m. and 5:30 a.m. in the sleepy village of Velika Ivanca, 30 miles, southeast of Belgrade. Police officials said Mr. Bogdanovic first shot his son in the head, before leaving his home and going from house to house, where he killed several of his neighbors and relatives, some of whom were sleeping. Mr. Veljovic said the neighbors in the close-knit village had left their doors unlocked and all were shot in the head.
The gunman killed his wife at the end of the spree and then tried to commit suicide after police surrounded his home, the police said. He was in critical condition at a hospital in central Belgrade.
Mr. Veljovic, who was at the scene, told Serbian state television that 12 victims died instantly and another died of his wounds at a Belgrade hospital. He said that an investigation was under way.
“This affected five homes, relatives and neighbors. At this moment we have nobody to talk to because five houses have been effectively shut down,” Mr. Veljovic said, according to B92, the independent Serbian broadcaster.
Mr. Bogdanovic was characterized by neighbors as a nonviolent and seemingly amiable man, who had not previously attracted attention. They said he was not known to have a history of mental illness or a criminal record. The Serb media reported that he had a license for the gun used in the shootings weapon since 1981.
The killings were met with shock and disbelief in Serbia, a poor Balkan country which lived through the bloody Balkan wars of the 1990s but has experienced little random gun violence. The country is known to have stockpiles of weapons leftover from the war and possessing a firearm as a form of personal protection is not uncommon.
The last mass murder in Serbia took place in 2007 in the village of Jabukovac, in eastern Serbia, where a man killed nine people.