@Blasterman Thanks. I've never heard that theory before. I didn't know they have to take a test for it, either.
Since my last post, I looked into the school's competition records further, but it turned out that the results I got from the news items on their old website were all there is for Kosta, so his record can be considered complete now. Anyway, I'm sure that anyone who cares about this case has already seen it, but here's a good photo of his map/action plan that was released by the Serbian government:
The fraction-like numbers in the upper left are classes. Unless the "primary targets" label only refers to 7/2, it's misleading, since Kosta's list doesn't indicate he intended to target anyone outside of the seventh grade. (The two fifth-grade girls were killed because they were the on-duty hall monitors and he encountered them while entering.) The number after the dash seems to refer to the floor where the room the class would have been in at the time is located - in this school, and most large middle schools in Serbia, students go from room to room in different periods. Notice the map is of the "1st floor" and there is a floor zero as well. Now, Serbia counts the first above-ground floor as the 1st floor. However, like many schools in Serbia, the Vladislav Ribnikar school has two entrances. Also, it is built on a steep incline - Belgrade is very hilly. The entrance that Kosta used (in Kralja Milutina Street) actually opens onto the 1st above-ground floor and seems to have been in use as the primary entrance before the shooting. The other entrance (in Svetozara Markovića Street) likely opens onto the actual ground floor (which he labeled with a zero) and doesn't seem to be signposted. It is also currently being used as the only entrance to the school.
The Svetozara Markovića Street entrance, before the shooting.
The labels on the map are a bit mixed up since Kosta used the numbers differently here. They seem to indicate the intended flow of events. See the Molotov and gun 'n' bullet doodles. He specifically indicated entering the classroom that 7/4 was in (the history room) but only intended to pass by the others on his way to the stairs, which again shows that the "primary targets" label is a bit misleading. Although I can't confirm that it really doesn't exist, he seems to have made a mistake and crossed out room 1-4 on this map, just like he crossed out a name on the list. There are no steps beyond dropping a Molotov on the stairs so it remains unknown how he intended to deal with class 7/2.
One of the Serbian newspapers released this awkward and exploitative "interview" with one of the students who was on the list. He unconvincingly denies knowing anything about anything while the interviewer stumbles over her words.
The relevant parts translated:
- Do you know why your name was on the shooter's list?
- I really don't know. I wonder why.
- How does he know you?
- I don't know. The whole school knows me, so...
- And you don't know him?
- I've seen him around, but I don't know who he is. He's not my friend or anything.
- Do you know any of the deceased?
- Yes. Three of them.
- Do you know why they were on his list?
- I really don't know. Two of my friends were on the list, but they aren't... [This part is unclear.]
