Serbian mass shooter who killed 9 gets maximum sentence of 20 years in prison

A court in Serbia on Thursday convicted and sentenced to 20 years in prison a young man who killed nine people and injured 12 in one of two mass murders last year that shook the Balkan country.

Uros Blazic, 21, picked up an automatic rifle on May 4, 2023, and opened fire at several locations in the villages of Dubona and Malo Orasje, south of Belgrade, shooting randomly at young people who hanging out on a spring evening.

Blazic was “aware of his actions and their illegality, and with relentless violent behavior” people were killed and injured, judges said.

The near mass killings shocked the country, accustomed to wars and crises but where mass shootings were rare. The subsequent crashes sparked a wave of street protests and a crackdown on widespread illegal gun ownership.

Hundreds of people are shown from ground level walking down a city street in what appears to be a performance. Some people have signs, others have flags because a cityscape of buildings is shown in the background. — People attend a demonstration after the two mass shootings in the same week, in Belgrade, on June 3, 2023. (Marko Djurica/Reuters)

The 20-year prison sentence for Blazic is the maximum allowed under Serbian law for people under the age of 21. Blazic was 20 when he committed the crime.

Separately, the gunman's father, Radisa Blazic, was also convicted of illegal possession of firearms used in the shooting and sentenced to 20 years in prison.

Accepting 'hidden sins'

During his trial, the younger Blazic said he could not explain what motivated him to kill so many people. He said during closing arguments that he had felt that he was suffering but that he could not justify what he had done.

“I committed hidden acts, and I deserve the harshest punishment,” he told the court. Serbian media reported that Blazic, who had a police record, was known for violent outbursts and aggressive behavior before the shooting.

Crime scene investigators clad in white jumpsuits and wearing gloves examine a vehicle and its surroundings in a rural area. — Forensic police examine a car in the small town of Dubona, about 50 kilometers south of Belgrade on May 5, 2023, hours after the mass shooting. (Armin Durgut/The Associated Press)

Parents and relatives of the victims were present in the courtroom in Belgrade when the verdict was read out. Many of them were smiling as they entered the courtroom Thursday morning, wearing shirts with images of Blazic's victims.

Blazic's carnage came just a day after a teenager using his father's gun shot nine other students and a guard at an elementary school in central Belgrade in Serbia's first ever school shooting.

The parents of the school shooting suspect have gone on trial in Belgrade. The suspect himself was under the age of criminal responsibility and is still in a special mental institution.

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