Boy, 15, fakes illness to skip school before 'stealing gun to kill classmate'

13 November 2023 , 16:34

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Mateja Zigri shot a classmate dead last Thursday (Image: CEN)

A 15-year-old German boy who allegedly shot a classmate in the head lied to his parents about feeling ill so he could skip school - before stealing his grandfather’s gun.

Mateja Zigri told his mum he was too ill to go into school on Thursday (November 9). The 42-year-old left for work, leaving her son free to hunt for the key to his grandfather’s old cabinet, in their hometown of Offenburg, Baden-Württemberg.

Police say Zigri, who has Serbian roots, found a semi automatic Beretta M9 handgun in the cabinet and took it to his school - Waldback special needs school on Vogesen Street - apparently with the intent to harm another classmate. Pawlos, the victim, was also only 15 when he died.

The victim, Pawlos, was also just 15 years old (CEN)

At first, Zigri doused Pawlos in flammable liquid - allegedly lamp oil - and attempted to set him on fire with a lighter. When the lighter turned out to be dysfunctional, Zigri shot Pawlos twice in the head. The victim died hours later in hospital, according to police.

Zigri was apprehended by a parent who was in the building and successfully convinced the teenager to put the weapon down. He was held until police came and his been in custody ever since - with his parents set to make their first visit on November 22. An investigation has now been opened into Zigri’s parents after they left him home alone with a gun in their house.

Baby boy has spent his life in hospital as doctors are 'scared' to discharge him

This photo shows the moment the student was arrested last week (CEN)

"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,” said Zigri’s mother. "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."

In a statement the police said the gun and ammunition used “probably came from his personal environment”. They added: “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. 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 has been in custody since the incident and will first see his parents on November 22nd (CEN)

Zigri's mother said it felt like someone "pulled the rug out from under" her (CEN)

Zigri’s mother explained that she had no idea how her son had learned the security code to the gun cabinet - and claims she found out about the incident through TikTok. “I also feel for the victim's family, I feel very sorry for them,” she said. “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."

Earlier in the year, another Serbian teen opened fire in a school when Kosta Kecmanovic, just 13 years old, killed eight students and a guard at Belgrade's Vladislav Ribnikar School. The incident occurred in May.

Alex Croft