This is how Belgrade police found 14-year-old suspected of attempted murder: He plunged knife into boy's chest

Illustration; Photo: Shutterstock, telegraf.rs

14-year-old F.G. was arrested today on suspicion of attempting to murder another 14-year-old, V.M., during an incident that happened in Belgrade last weekend.

Recommended

F.G. is suspected of stabbing V.M. with a knife in front of a store in the Vozdovac municipality of Belgrade. The police found the suspect via call history on the victim's phone, and thanks to footage from surveillance cameras.

Telegraf.rs has learned that when checking V.M.'s phone, the police saw the last number in the call history - a call made by F.G. - and when they interviewed him, they realized it was the same teenager as the one seen in the surveillance footage perpetrating the attack.

Namely, the video from the store's security cameras, which was taken by the police and the prosecutor's office, shows groups of boys, among whom were V.M. and F.G. At one point, the attacker asked the victim to lend him his phone because he had allegedly run out of his prepaid top up, "and must have an important conversation."

V.M. - who turned out to be known in the neighborhood as a successful young athlete and an excellent student - agreed to hand over the phone.

"The video shows F.G. taking the phone from the boy. After a few minutes, F.G. starts to walk away from the group. The video shows V.M. going after him and at one point asking to have his phone back, which he then takes back from F.G. Both boys then return to their groups of friends," a source close to the case has told Telegraf.rs.

The source added that F.G. approached V.M. shortly after, asking him, "Do you know who I am? Why did you take the phone?"

"Next, the video shows F.G. moving close to V.M. and aiming a knife at his chest. The boy dodged the first swing, and a second. However, the bully was not giving up on his attention and finally plunged the knife into V.M's chest, full-force. Had V.M. had not moved to avoid it, the blade would have ended up in his heart," the source said.

As Telegraf.rs previously reported, the injured teenager ran into a pizzeria on the corner, a short distance from the store where the attack took place, and asked for help. Those inside the establishmebt immediately called the police and an ambulance.

V.M. was urgently transported to the University Children's Clinic in Tirsova Street, where he was diagnosed with serious, life-threatening injuries. According to the doctors the knife very nearly missed the heart. The victim is currently under constant medical supervision, and according to latest information, his condition is stable.

What shocked the investigators was the behavior of both teenagers. V.M. refused to cooperate with the police after being admitted to the hospital and did not want to tell them who attacked him and why, while the teenager suspected of committing the crime calmly returned to his group of friends after stabbing his victim.

People who live in the immediate vicinity of the store are stunned by the violence that happened in what they say is an otherwise peaceful neighborhood.

"There is an elementary school nearby. For a child to do something so brutal, I can't believe it! I'm scared to let my children out of the house now when it gets dark, you never know what could happen," Stepa Stepanovic, who lives in the neighborhood, told Telegraf.rs.

This brutal attack took place in the Stepa Stepanovic neighborhood on Saturday around 23:00, when a verbal altercation between two teens escalated into serious violence.

The suspect was taken to the Department for Juveniles within the Higher Public Prosecutor's Office in Belgrade and has been charged with attempted murder.

A juvenile court judge will decide on further measures and the possibility of detaining F.G.

(Telegraf.rs)