Basketball player Luka Doncic pays for funerals of victims of Belgrade massacre

Slovenian basketball player Luka Doncic of the North American Basketball League (NBA) will bear the cost of burying eight children and a security guard who were killed this Wednesday at a school in Belgrade.

The Dallas Mavericks player will also cover the cost of psychological support for survivors through the Luka Doncic Foundation, which exists to “improve the health and well-being of children through play,” American sports journalist Adrian Wojnarowski said this Thursday.

Doncic, whose father is Serbian and has a family in Belgrade, said via the social networking site Telegram that he was “devastated” by the massacre carried out by a 13-year-old boy, a student of the same school.

“I am devastated by the tragic school shooting in Serbia and the loss of lives, including innocent children. My thoughts are with the families and the entire society affected by this tragedy, ”the basketball player emphasized.

“Belgrade, I support you and support you in these difficult times. Through the Luka Doncic Foundation, I’m exploring ways to help students, teachers, and families affected by the Vladislav Rybnikar Primary School shooting,” Doncic added.

In Wednesday’s tragedy, a young man used his father’s gun in the massacre and both were arrested. The teenager himself was transported with another pistol and four improvised incendiary bombs (“Molotov cocktails”) in a backpack.

The juvenile placed in a psychiatric center is 13 years old and cannot be charged as the minimum age of criminal responsibility in Serbia is 14 years.

While the police have yet to figure out the motive behind the attack, Serbian media have reported that the attacker, described as a good student, received poor grades in history.

The attack, which killed nine people, injured eight of those children, the teacher of the subject, and six other students.

This Thursday, hundreds of people, young and old, marched in silence outside the school in the center of Belgrade where the tragedy took place to lay flowers and light candles in memory of the victims.