Teenager stabs 7-year-old to death, 6 others in Croatian school

Police secure access to the elementary school where a knife-wielding teenager stabbed a 7-year-old girl dead and wounded a teacher and five other students in Zagreb, Croatia, Friday, Dec. 20, 2024. – (Associated Press Photo/Ronald Gorsic)

ZAGREB, Croatia — A knife-wielding teenager walked into a school in Croatia’s capital on Friday, stabbed a 7-year-old girl to death, and wounded five more children and a teacher, authorities said.

The attack took place around 9:50 a.m. on the last day of school before Christmas at the Precko Elementary School in the Zagreb neighborhood of the same name. It caters for children between the ages of 7 and 15.

“The attacker is a 19-year-old who is a former student of that school and still lives nearby,” said Interior Minister Davor Bozinovic. “Eventually he started injuring himself. Police prevented him from committing suicide.”

Bozinovic said the teenager had mental health problems and had made a previous attempt to kill himself. “It is hard to say this person was mentally balanced.”

School attacks are rare in Croatia and the Balkans as a whole, although in May 2023, a teenager in neighboring Serbia opened fire at a school in the capital, Belgrade, killing nine fellow students and a school guard.

Video footage broadcast by Croatian media on Friday showed children running away from the school building and a medical helicopter landing in the schoolyard.

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Authorities in Croatia declared Saturday a day or mourning and canceled some of the Christmas festivities. Candidates for the upcoming presidential election said they were temporarily suspending their campaigns because of the tragedy.

President Zoran Milanovic said “there are no words to describe the grief over the horrible and unthinkable tragedy that shocked us all today.” Milanovic called for unity and an effort to ensure that schools are a safe and carefree place for children.

Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic said at a government session that he was “appalled” by the attack and that authorities are still working to determine exactly what happened..