Teen stabs girl, 7, to death, wounds teacher and 3 more children in Croatia school

A knife-wielding teenager walked into a school in Croatia’s capital on Friday, stabbed a seven-year-old girl to death and wounded three more children and their teacher, authorities said.

The attack took place around 9.50am on the last day of school before Christmas at the Precko Elementary School in the Zagreb neighbourhood of the same name. It caters for children between the ages of 7 and 15.

“The attacker is a 19-year-old who is a former student of that school and still lives nearby,” said Interior Minister Davor Bozinovic.

“Eventually he started injuring himself. Police prevented him from committing suicide.”

Bozinovic said the attacker had mental health problems and had made a previous attempt to kill himself. “It is hard to say this person was mentally balanced.”

School attacks are rare in Croatia and in the Balkans as a whole, although in May 2023, a teenager in neighbouring Serbia opened fire at a school in the capital, Belgrade, killing nine fellow students and a school guard.