Brnabic: Teenage shooter did not practice at BIA range

BELGRADE - Serbian PM Ana Brnabic on Thursday dismissed as "absolutely untrue" claims that an underage boy suspected of killing ten people in a shooting spree in a Belgrade primary school in May had practiced at a Security Information Agency (BIA) shooting range.

Responding to opposition MPs during a parliamentary debate on a motion for a no-confidence vote for Interior Minister Bratislav Gasic, Brnabic said that, by making such claims, they seriously eroded the credibility of BIA and the state itself.

"I find it unbelievable to hear you tell (Serbian Progressive party whip) Milenko Jovanov that the party was mentioned by accident and say that the father of the minor (identified as) K K was close to Serbian Progressive Party members and that, as a result, there was a possibility of K K practicing on BIA premises," Brnabic said.

"You have publicly asked a question that has nothing to do with the truth and incriminates me and BIA personnel," Brnabic said, noting that such questions eroded the "seriousness and credibility of our country."

Quashing opposition claims that K K's father had been taking the boy to the range for shooting practice in the months leading up to the massacre, Gasic said that was impossible as BIA had only one shooting range and because security procedures were clear and would never have allowed such an omission to occur.