A 7-year-old girl was killed and at least five other students and a teacher were injured Friday in a knife attack at a school in the Croatian capital, Zagreb, police said. The local hospital said the injured teacher suffered life-threatening injuries, Reuters reported.
Authorities said the attack occurred at 9:50 a.m. local time at Precko Primary School in the neighborhood of the same name. They described the attacker as a “young man” and said he had been arrested.
The Croatian Interior Ministry said the attacker was 19 years old. Local media reported that the attacker was a former student of the school and showed video footage of children fleeing the school building and a medical helicopter landing in the school grounds.
Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic said he was “appalled” by the attack and said authorities were still working to determine exactly what happened. He said several children were taken to various hospitals in Zagreb.
State television reported that the attacker went straight to the first classroom he found after entering the school, where he attacked the students and their teacher.
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Attacks on schools are rare in Croatia. Last May, a teenager from neighboring Serbia opened fire on a school in the capital Belgrade, killing nine classmates and a school guard.
