A ninth-grader in Germany has lied to his parents about feeling ill in order to skip school before he stole his grandfather’s gun and shot a classmate dead after trying to set him on fire.
Mateja Zigri, 15, from the city of Offenburg, in the German state of Baden-Wuerttemberg, told his mum he was too sick to go to school on Thursday, 9th November.
But when the 42-year-old woman left for work, the 15-year-old teen with Serbian roots found the key to his grandfather’s gun cabinet, stole an old semiautomatic Beretta M9 handgun, and headed to class.
He then walked into a classroom at the Waldbach special needs school at Vogesen Street during a lesson and poured flammable liquid, allegedly lamp oil, on his classmate Pawlos, 15, to set him on fire.
However, when he failed in his attempt because the lighter he used was dysfunctional, he shot the victim twice in the head.
The 15-year-old boy died hours later in hospital, say police.
Zigri was arrested after one student’s parent who was in the building at the time of the shooting, spotted the suspect and convinced him to put down the weapon.
He then held him until police arrived. Zigri has been in custody ever since.
Now, the Offenburg Public Prosecutor’s Office and the Offenburg Police launched an investigation against Zigri’s parents.
They said in a statement obtained by Newsflash: “The gun used by the young person and the ammunition probably came from his personal environment.
“According to current information, the victim was hit by two shots. After the shots were fired, the perpetrator met a teacher in the hallway in front of the classroom.
“The teacher was hit in the head by the 15-year-old and was slightly injured as a result.”
Police continued: “During the search of the school building, police forces were able to find and confiscate a bottle containing suspected flammable liquid in the stairwell.”
Zigri’s mother told German newspaper Bild: “Of course, we’re involved now because the weapon came from our house. But it was properly locked.
“We are now considered a family of murderers. The police came to search the house twice.
“I was also asked where my son got the flammable liquid. Apart from the oil tanks in the basement, I only have lamp oil. That was taken away.”
The 42-year-old woman said she did not know how her son learned the security code to the cabinet. She reportedly found out about the incident over TikTok.
She said: “Of course, I also feel for the victim’s family, I feel very sorry for them. But it also pulled the rug out from under me.
“Mateja is my only child. Now my husband and I each need a lawyer. We are probably accused of being complicit.”
Zigri’s parents will be allowed to visit their son in custody on 22nd November.
The 15-year-old is the second Serbian teenager to open fire in school, after Kosta Kecmanovic, 13 at the time, killed eight students and a guard at Belgrade’s Vladislav Ribkinar school on Wednesday, 3rd May.
