Obrenovac: Father Orders Son, 10, to Shoot Milan R., 25
Prosecutors suspect a father forced his 10 year old son to shoot a business partner in a churchyard in Drazevac, near Obrenovac. Milan R., 25, was shot and had surgery; father was held for 48 hours.
In the courtyard of St. Nicholas Church in the village of Drazevac near Obrenovac, Milan R., 25, was shot last night around 9 p.m. Investigators suspect he was shot by a 10 year old boy, whose father had handed him a gun moments earlier. Police arrested the suspect, Slavko, 44, of Ub, who is charged with inciting attempted aggravated murder.
How the shooting unfolded, according to witnesses
According to an account that residents gave to Kurir and Informer, the suspect drove into the church courtyard. The boy got out of the car and stood behind it. When Milan R. appeared, the father pulled out a gun, handed it to his son and ordered him to shoot. Residents say the order was just two words.
Fire, kid
Residents of Drazevac attribute this line to Slavko, in a statement to Informer. Gunshots rang out immediately after.
An unnamed eyewitness described the moments after the shooting to Kurir.
The wounded Milan tried to run into the church, blood was pouring everywhere. That wretched man who had made the child shoot immediately started his car and fled.
The priest of St. Nicholas Church in Drazevac did not witness the shooting itself, but was shaken by what happened in his churchyard. He told Kurir the following.
I did not see what happened, I only heard it. Something has gone wrong within our people. I had just watered the flowers and was heading home, I could never have imagined that such an incident would happen right here, in the courtyard of the church.
The injuries and hospital treatment
The bullet passed through Milan R.’s right forearm, while another struck his pleura and lung, according to Informer. Kurir describes his condition as serious, with surgery announced.
Sources differ on which hospital treated him. The eyewitness told Kurir that the wounded man was rushed to the Military Medical Academy, and Hronika magazin, citing the Tanjug news agency, names the same hospital. Informer writes that Milan R. was taken to hospital and placed in intensive care, that his life is not in danger, and that surgery was scheduled for today, without naming the facility.
The escape, arrest and the child’s status
According to residents’ accounts, after the shooting the suspect took the child and the gun, got into the car and fled. Informer reports that father and son headed toward the village of Brgule. Kurir adds that the weapon was hidden at an acquaintance’s home, and that this person was also taken into custody, according to that outlet.
The gun was later found and sent for forensic examination. Police arrested the suspect in Ub. He was ordered held for up to 48 hours, and the case was taken over by the Higher Public Prosecutor’s Office in Belgrade. He is charged with inciting attempted aggravated murder.
The boy who fired the shots is 10 years old and below the age of criminal responsibility, so he cannot be prosecuted. Mondo reports that the Center for Social Welfare was urgently engaged to provide the child with legal and psychological support.
The motive and the suspect’s prior record
All sources cite unresolved financial accounts from a joint business selling firewood, reportedly run by the suspect and Milan R., as the motive.
Informer, citing residents, reports that two days before the shooting the suspect had sent Milan R. threatening messages and insulted him in a voice message, including insults directed at his two year old daughter, which is reportedly why Milan went to the agreed meeting that evening.
According to Kurir and Mondo, the suspect has a prior record with multiple reports, for illegal possession of weapons, timber theft, violent behavior and traffic offenses. Informer states that his record includes seven serious criminal offenses. In statements to Informer, residents describe him as a heavy alcoholic who, they say, had been drinking at local bars that morning.
Discrepancies between sources
Outlets spell the suspect’s surname differently. Informer and Mondo, as well as one Kurir article, give it as Slavko O., while another Kurir article, containing eyewitness statements, gives it as Slavko J. None of the outlets cite an official statement from the Interior Ministry or the prosecution on the case. Hronika magazin attributes its report to the Tanjug news agency.
This is not the first case of family or neighbor violence near Obrenovac in recent days. Srpske.rs recently reported on an incident in Urovci, where perpetrators beat members of a household and ran over an elderly person with a car.
