A 13-year-old boy has been apprehended by Bosnian authorities following a shooting incident at Lukavac Elementary School on Wednesday. The incident left a 38-year-old male teacher, who also served as the assistant headmaster, with serious injuries. He underwent surgery following the attack. No students were harmed during the event.

While authorities haven't publicly disclosed the shooter's motivation, local officials have confirmed that the boy had been expelled from the school earlier in the year due to behavioral issues. Dino Osmanovic, a local politician, stated that the boy had previously voiced threats of retaliation for the disciplinary action taken against him.

Osmanovic claims to have alerted law enforcement about the potential threat in late May, but was informed that appropriate measures were in place and that further information couldn't be shared due to the involvement of a minor.

This incident follows two recent mass shootings in neighboring Serbia. In early May, a 13-year-old student used his father's firearm to fatally shoot nine fellow students and a security guard at a Belgrade school. Just a day later, a 20-year-old individual carried out a separate attack in two villages south of Belgrade, resulting in eight deaths and 14 injuries.

These tragedies have sent shockwaves throughout the Balkan region, a region grappling with the widespread availability of firearms left over from the conflicts of the 1990s. A 2010 United Nations Development Program study estimated that there are approximately 750,000 illegally possessed weapons in Bosnia, a nation of roughly 3.5 million people.