The parents of a teenage boy who carried out Serbia’s deadliest school shooting have received prison sentences following a retrial in Belgrade.

Vladimir Kecmanović, the boy’s father, was sentenced to 14 years and six months in prison. His mother, Miljana Kecmanović, received a sentence of two years and 11 months.

Both the defence and the prosecution have appealed against the verdicts, meaning the case will now return to the court of appeal.

The couple’s son was 13 when he entered Vladislav Ribnikar Elementary School in central Belgrade on May 3, 2023, carrying two handguns taken from his father’s safe. He opened fire in a school corridor and then inside a classroom.

Seven girls, one boy and a school security guard were killed at the scene. Another girl later died in hospital. Five other pupils and a history teacher were wounded.

The judge said the teenager fired 66 bullets in just over two minutes.

Shooter could not be held criminally responsible

Because the boy was below Serbia’s minimum age of criminal responsibility, he could not be prosecuted for the killings. He was subsequently placed in a psychiatric institution.

The authorities instead brought charges against his parents. Both were accused of neglect and abuse of a minor, while the father also faced charges related to a serious offence against public safety.

Prosecutors argued that Vladimir Kecmanović had taught his son how to use firearms and failed to store the weapons and ammunition securely. The boy was able to take the handguns from a safe in the family home, place them in his backpack and carry them to school.

The defence argued that neglect had not been proven and that the prosecution had not presented an expert assessment showing that the teenager had been neglected by his parents.

Zora Dobričanin, a lawyer representing the victims’ families, described the proceedings as a long legal struggle that would continue during the appeals process.

Earlier verdict overturned

The parents were first tried in 2024. During those proceedings, their son gave evidence behind closed doors.

The father received a lengthy prison sentence for training the boy to handle firearms and failing to secure the weapons properly. The mother was convicted of neglect but acquitted of illegal possession of firearms.

An instructor from a shooting range where the teenager had practised was also convicted of giving false testimony.

However, in November 2025, the Belgrade Court of Appeal overturned the parents’ verdicts and ordered a retrial. It ruled that the original court’s reasoning had been unclear and contradictory.

The father remained in custody, while the mother was permitted to remain free until the retrial, which began in January 2026.

During the new proceedings, the chief prosecutor argued that holding the parents responsible would help Serbian society address one of the most traumatic events in the country’s peacetime history.

Shootings triggered mass protests

School shootings had been virtually unknown in Serbia before the Vladislav Ribnikar attack. The killings caused widespread shock and prompted an intense national debate about gun ownership, violence and the responsibility of parents.

Only two days after the school massacre, another gunman killed nine people and wounded several others in attacks on villages near Belgrade.

The two shootings sparked large demonstrations, with tens of thousands of people taking to the streets. Protesters demanded greater public safety, stricter control of firearms and broader political accountability.

The Serbian government responded by introducing tougher gun regulations and announcing an amnesty under which citizens could surrender illegal weapons without facing prosecution.

The retrial verdict does not end the legal proceedings. With both sides appealing, Serbia’s courts will once again have to determine the extent to which the parents can be held responsible for the circumstances that enabled their son to commit the massacre.