Serbia shooting suspect dies of injuries
A Serbian police officer speaks with a woman as he inspects a back yard of a house in the village of Velika Ivanca, south of capital Belgrade, on April 9, 2013, where a man shot dead 13 relatives and neighbours, including a two-year-old child, in the country’s worst killing spree in two decades.
Ljubisa Bogdanovic, the man suspected of shooting 13 people dead in Serbia before turning the gun on himself, has died of his injuries.
Belgrade Emergency Hospital said Bogdanovic, 60, died from head wounds. His wife, 60-year-old Javorka Bogdanovic, was also shot and is recovering from surgery. Her condition is serious but stable.
Ljubisa Bogdanovic, a war veteran who fought with the Serb forces in the war in Croatia in 1991, was said to have killed six men, six women and a 2-year-old boy as he went on a door-to-door shooting rampage in a village near Belgrade.
Those who died included his mother and his son. The 2-year-old was said to be the suspected shooter's cousin.
More from GlobalPost: Serbia gunman kills two-year-old, 12 others in shooting spree
The motive for the rampage shooting, considered the worst in Serbian peacetime, is still unknown. Bogdanovic had no criminal record or history of mental illness. He had lost his job at a wood-processing factory a year ago.
Residents of the Velika Ivanca village were shocked at what had happened, and described the suspect as a quiet and helpful man. After killing his mother and son, he left his home and started shooting neighbors, some of whom were still asleep as the incident took place before dawn.
Funerals for the victims will be held on Friday.
Without federal support, local stations, especially in rural and underserved areas, face deep cuts or even closure. Vital public service alerts, news, storytelling, and programming like The World will be impacted. The World has weathered many storms, and we remain steadfast in our commitment to being your trusted source for human-centered international news, shared with integrity and care. We believe public media is about truth and access for all. As an independent, nonprofit newsroom, we aren’t controlled by billionaire owners or corporations. We are sustained by listeners like you.
Now more than ever, we need your help to support our global reporting work and power the future of The World.