In the horrific crime that shook Croatia and the region yesterday, a seven-year-old child was killed, and several children and a teacher were seriously injured when a 19-year-old attacker armed with a knife entered an elementary school in the suburbs of Zagreb. Among the injured is the attacker who tried to commit suicide, but was prevented by the police, after which he was arrested.
Croatian Minister of Health Irena Hrstić said that the injured were taken to hospitals and that most of them are out of danger, except for the teacher who is in serious condition, Beta reported.
Croatian media announced that it was a 64-year-old teacher who teaches first grade and that this was her last generation before retirement. According to the Indeks portal, she was stabbed in an attempt to prevent an attack on students. The doctor from the Sveti Duh Hospital said in an interview with HRT that she was admitted with serious physical injuries, that is, with a large number of stab wounds in the chest area.
The attack took place around 9.50:XNUMX a.m., on the last day of school before Christmas, at the Prečko Elementary School in an otherwise quiet neighborhood in Zagreb.
Croatian Interior Minister Davor Božinović said yesterday that the attacker was a 19-year-old former student of the school and had already been registered for mental disorders.
"From the first report to the police, the perpetrator was subdued in 10 minutes. He fled the scene and locked himself in the nearby building of the Health Center. He started to injure himself with a knife. The police prevented him from committing suicide. "The person in question was registered for mental disorders, and about a year ago for a suicide attempt, so the fact that he tried to take his own life even today shows that it is difficult to say that the person was mentally balanced," said Božinović.
Some Croatian media announced that they spoke with the attacker's mother, who, as they write, said about her son that he had been to a psychiatric hospital in Jankomir a couple of times, where she allegedly warned the doctors to keep him in treatment, and they, as she claims, let them go home.
The Croatian Ministry of Health confirmed to the news agency Hina that it had launched a health inspection at the Sveti Ivan Psychiatry Clinic in Jankomir, where the attacker was allegedly being treated.
Parents gathered in panic in front of the school yesterday, waiting for news about their children, and on the videos published by the Croatian media, children can be seen running away from the school building and a medical helicopter landing in the school yard.
Marko Sikirica, whose child attends the Prečko elementary school and is a representative of the parents' council, was furious in his conversation with the media. As Indeks reported, he said that such tragedies should not happen and that it took him half an hour to reach his child and take him to safety.
"My child is fine, but unfortunately the other children are not. I am sorry that the other children are not well. I am angry with the state, I am most angry with them. There was an attack in Belgrade. Croatia did nothing... I have been working in technical protection systems for 18 years. Nothing was done in the schools. I go to school on a good day, I don't even have to say anything to anyone, there is no one in the school, it is unlocked all the time", said Sikirica. "It is unacceptable to me that the school does not have crisis management and that they do not know where the children are. It's a disaster for me," he added.
Yesterday's tragedy in Croatia reminded of last year's crime in Belgrade, when the boy Kosta Kecmanović killed nine peers and a school guard. Croatian media point out that, unlike the case in Belgrade, at the school in Prečko, no one was at the door and that, although the course of events is still being determined, everything points to the fact that the killer entered the school unhindered.
Sanja Šprem, the president of the Croatian Teachers' Union and the Mother of Croatian Unions, said on the occasion of the tragedy in the elementary school in Prečko that it was the most serious case of violence in schools in Croatia and requested the adoption of a National Plan for the Protection and Prevention of Violence in Schools.
"It is an extremely difficult situation and we are appalled by today's event," she said and expressed her condolences to the family and support to all families, students and school employees. She emphasized that a complete solution must be found so that such a case never happens again in Croatia and proposed the adoption of the National Plan for the Protection and Prevention of Violence in Schools, which, she added, they had been working on "in the old days", but that they had not completed the work to the end.
"The guidelines were of good quality, the collaborators in the working groups were good, the proposed solutions were good," she assessed and added that the Minister of Education said that he would call the trade unions as social partners to an agreement, to come up with proposals and solutions to the situation together. "The national plan should be a strategic document of the Government of the Republic of Croatia so that similar situations do not happen again," she emphasized.
On the occasion of yesterday's tragedy, three educational unions in Croatia announced that they will organize a peaceful protest march in Zagreb on Monday under the name "For a safe school", "Jutarnji list" reported.
Due to the tragedy, a Day of Mourning has been declared on the territory of Croatia for today, and a number of cultural and entertainment events planned for the upcoming holidays have been cancelled.
Candidates in the presidential elections, scheduled for December 29, have also suspended their pre-election activities.
Croatian President Zoran Milanović expressed his condolences to the family of the victim and called for efforts to make schools and educational institutions safe.
"I have no words to describe my sadness for the terrible and unprecedented tragedy that shocked us all today. "I express my deepest condolences to the parents and family of the child who tragically died at school in Zagreb today," said Milanović.
"Let's do everything to make our schools and educational institutions once again a carefree and safe place for all children and all educational workers, as they have been for decades," Milanović added.
Yesterday afternoon, due to the attack on a school in Zagreb, an extraordinary meeting was held in which Prime Minister Andrej Plenković, Zagreb Mayor Tomislav Tomašević and relevant ministers took part.
Plenković addressed journalists after the meeting to express his condolences and announce measures to increase the level of security in schools, N1 reported.
"We are shocked and appalled by such a serious crime. At this moment, we cannot say that it was an ideologically colored event or that it has terrorist elements. We think that it is an event that arose due to health disorders, but this kind of event opens up a number of questions related to safety in schools", he added. "That's why we decided today in these few days, while the holidays are, to see what we can do additionally in terms of security from the fact that all school institutions must be locked, and technical improvements, in relation to the type of doors in schools, as well as to foresee in the systematization of the school one place for people who would be qualified with special knowledge related to security", he announced.
Yesterday, the highest officials of the countries in the region sent telegrams of condolence to the political top of Croatia regarding the attack on the primary school.
Yesterday, a large number of citizens lit candles and left lanterns at several locations in Zagreb, including the Prečko elementary school yard, to pay their respects to the victims.
Bonus video:
