Serbian parents of school shooter given jail terms in retrial

In a belgrade court on Thursday the parents of the 13‑year‑old that killed nine children and a guard in 2023 are now in prison. Vladimir Kecmanović got 14 years and six months, while his wife Miljana got two years and 11 months for neglect.

The school gunman, still a minor, was sent to a psychiatric institution after the May 3 attack. The parents were convicted of neglect and abuse of a child; the father was also charged with a serious offence against public safety.

Both the defence and the prosecution have lodged appeals against the jail terms. The case remains under appeal in Serbia’s judicial system.

After the initial 2024 trial, a court of appeal ordered a retrial in November 2025, citing unclear and contradictory reasons behind the original verdicts. The father remains in custody and the mother was allowed out of jail until the retrial in January 2026.

The retrial began last January, with the chief prosecutor arguing that the convictions would partly explain how Serbian society processed one of the country’s most tragic peacetime events.

During the trial a judge detailed the shooting: the boy fired 66 bullets over a span of two minutes and one second – many hitting the victims. The defence argued that the neglect charges were not proven and that no expert testimony proved that the child had been neglected.

The incident, a rare mass gun attack in Serbia, shocked the nation and triggered widespread protests. It led to a government gun amnesty and tougher gun‑control laws.

Inside the courtroom, lawyer Zora Dobričanin, representing victims’ families, noted that the trial is a “long fight” that will continue in the appeals court.