Two pupils wounded in Serbia school shooting in critical condition as Belgrade mourns victims

The country’s Interior Ministry warns gun owners to keep their weapons empty and locked up in wake of attack that killed eight children and a security guard

Police officers guard the Vladimir Ribnikar school in Belgrade – behind tributes to those killed (AP)

Two pupils wounded in Serbia's first mass school shooting are in critical condition, health officials said, as the country prepares for three days of national mourning.

The suspected shooter, a 13-year-old boy, surrendered after taking two handguns belonging to his father and killing eight pupils and a security guard in their school in the capital Belgrade, police said. The guard and three girls were shot in a hallway. A teacher and pupils in a history class were then shot.

The teacher and six pupils were wounded. They are being treated in the Tirsova hospital and the city's University Hospital.

"The girl who underwent an urgent surgery yesterday due to head injuries... remains in critical condition and in intensive care," Sinisa Ducic, the acting director at the city's Tirsova hospital, told reporters. Milika Asanin, director of the University hospital, said that the condition of a severely wounded boy treated there had improved, but was still considered critical, the Tanjug news agency reported.

The remaining children and the teacher treated in the two hospitals were in stable condition.

Thousands of people in Belgrade and other cities throughout the Balkan country lined up to lay flowers, light candles and leave toys to commemorate the victims of the shooting. Many people cried and hugged outside the school as they stood in front of heaps of flowers, small teddy bears, a gray and pink toy elephant and a girl's ballet shoes hung on the fence. Students from other Belgrade schools also came to the site in groups, standing in silence.

People bring flowers for the victims in front of the Vladimir Ribnikar school in Belgrade (AP)

Residents in the capital are still coming to terms with what happened. Aleksandra Zizic, a schoolteacher, said she was in shock.

"We have spent the day yesterday with children to try and rationalise ... what happened. But there are no words," she said.

Mass shootings in Serbia are rare and this was the first-ever school shooting in the Balkan country, prompting the government to announce tougher curbs on gun ownership and to declare three days of national mourning from Friday.

President Aleksandar Vucic announced a moratorium on new gun licences other than for hunting, a revision of existing permits, enhanced surveillance of shooting ranges and of how members of the public store their weapons.

Mourners gather in Belgrade (AP)

In a statement on Thursday, the Serbian Interior Ministry warned gun owners to keep their weapons empty and locked up.

Police will control homes of gun owners to ensure they keep weapons properly. Negligently stored arms will be confiscated and owners will face charges, the ministry said.

The suspected shooter used two pistols that belonged to his father, police said on Wednesday.

Porfirije, the patriarch of the Serbian Orthodox Church, called for a memorial prayer on Thursday.

The suspected shooter is under Serbia's age of criminal responsibility. He has been in a psychiatric institution for an evaluation, President Vucic told reporters, adding the suspect's parents had been arrested.

Irina Borovic, a lawyer for the shooter's father, told Reuters that her client was to face charges of aggravated endangering of public safety and will appear before the court on Friday.

Reuters