Sanski Most School Shooting
On August 21, 2024, a school shooting occurred inside the Sanski Most Gymnasium, located in Sanski Most, Bosnia and Herzegovina, when the perpetrator opened fire on three school employees. The shooter was identified as 50-year-old Mehmed Vukalić, a man working as a janitor, armed with an automatic rifle. After the shooting, he attempted to commit suicide by shooting himself in the chest, but was captured while doing so and taken into medical custody. Vukalić is currently in a non-life-threatening situation, and being held at the University Clinical Center of the Republika Srpska in Banja Luka. The incident is currently the deadliest school shooting in Bosnian history.
Background
Small arms and weapons have been frequently trafficked in the Balkans since the Yugoslav Wars. Per a 2010 study executed by the United Nations Development Programme, there were around 750,000 illegally owned weapons in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Mass shootings are a relatively rare occurrence in the Balkans, but they had lately seen a small rise, including the Daruvar shooting in neighboring Croatia and the Mladenovac and Smederevo shootings and Belgrade school shooting, both in neighboring Serbia.
Some school employees reported that the suspect had entered into disputes with the school management and was suffering from Post-traumatic stress disorder after serving in the Bosnian War.
Victims
The deceased victims were identified as:
- Nijaz Halilović, school director
- Gordana Midžan, English teacher
- Nisveta Kljunić, secretary
See also
- Valparaíso school shootings, a 1999 mass shooting with a similar motive and duplicate fatality count
References
- ^ "Ovo je domar koji je ubio direktora, profesorku i sekretaricu u gimnaziji u Sanskom Mostu (Foto)". Nova.rs (in Serbian). 2024-08-21.
- ^ "Three teachers killed in Bosnia school shooting". euronews. 2024-08-21. Retrieved 2024-08-21.
- ^ "School employee kills at least 3 people in a Bosnian town, police say". AP News. 2024-08-21. Retrieved 2024-08-21.
- ^ "Three staff killed in shooting in school in Bosnia". SWI swissinfo.ch. 2024-08-21. Retrieved 2024-08-21.