Trg republike shooting: boy, 15, hands prosecutors phone
A 15-year-old from Backi Jarak was questioned by Belgrade prosecutors with his mother present. Police are still looking for the shooter and those who hired him.
A 15-year-old boy from Backi Jarak, stopped by police on the night of the shooting at Trg republike, has been questioned at the Higher Public Prosecutor’s Office in Belgrade with his mother present. According to media reports on Monday, November 9, he showed investigators messages he had received from a person who gave him instructions, and handed over the phone containing that correspondence.
In the articles we reviewed, there is no official statement from the police or the prosecutor’s office. The information is attributed to unofficial sources and to the investigation, so everything below should be read as allegations, not established fact.
What happened on the night of the shooting?
On Saturday, November 7, at about 2 a.m., police launched Operation “Vihor” after a report of gunfire outside a hospitality venue on Trg republike. We wrote about the incident the same day, while the search for the shooter was still under way. No one was injured.
Sources differ on the ammunition found. Srbija Danas, Kurir and Mondo report that patrols found one spent shell casing and two live rounds. Novosti mention only the spent casing.
After the shooting, checks were stepped up in the city center. At around 2:30 a.m., members of the Intervention Unit stopped a 15-year-old boy on Obilicev Venac. They found a surgical mask, gloves and a wheel wrench on him.
How is the boy linked to a second venue?
According to available information, the boy admitted he had set out to damage another venue, on Pop Lukina Street. Both venues, the one on Trg republike and the one on Pop Lukina, belong to the same owner, which is why the investigation connects the two events.
No source claims that he was the one who fired the shots. Police and prosecutors are still looking for the person who shot at Trg republike, as reported.
What is known about the phone and the person behind it?
The phone with the correspondence, according to what Srbija Danas has reported so far, shows that he received instructions from another person. The same paper assesses that the phone could reveal who is behind it all. Novosti, citing unofficial information, wrote as early as November 7 that he received the instructions through an app. No source says which app it was.
On who gave the orders, the articles do not match their headlines. Headlines from Mondo and Telegraf on the Naslovi.net aggregator claim the boy revealed who sent him, but the articles themselves name no one. Mondo, Kurir and Srbija Danas write that police and prosecutors are still working to identify both the shooter and those who engaged the minor.
None of the articles we read says what measure was ordered for the boy after questioning. Because of his age, the minor is not named. No one’s guilt has been established, and the people who allegedly engaged him have not been publicly identified so far.
