Serbia has experienced its second deadly mass shooting in just two days. Local media reports indicate that a gunman has killed eight people and wounded thirteen others in an area close to Belgrade, while police search for the 21-year-old suspect.

The shooting occurred less than 48 hours after another mass shooting, in which a 13-year-old boy shot and killed nine people and injured seven others at a school in Belgrade before turning himself in.

According to local media, the suspect in this latest shooting was involved in a late-night altercation in a schoolyard on Thursday before leaving and returning with an assault rifle and a handgun. He proceeded to shoot at people at random from a moving car as he drove through three villages.

The victims of this tragedy include an off-duty policeman and his sister, as well as several others whose identities have not yet been released. In response to the attack, a massive manhunt involving over 600 Serbian police officers, including the elite Special Antiterrorist Unit (SAJ) and Gendarmerie, has been launched under the name Operation Whirlwind.

Residents of the affected areas are in a state of shock and mourning, with one woman describing the young policeman killed in the shooting as being the same age as her daughter. Meanwhile, the wounded have been transported to several local hospitals, and a helicopter, drones, and multiple police patrols continue to search for the suspect in the surrounding hills and wooded areas.

This latest tragedy comes just as Serbia was beginning to recover from its first-ever mass school shooting, which occurred on Wednesday. The country has since entered into a three-day period of official mourning, and high school teachers have rallied to demand improvements in school security and the education system.

Serbia has strict gun control laws, but an entrenched gun culture in rural areas has led to the continued presence of military-grade weapons and ordnance in private hands. In response to the recent shootings, the Serbian government has introduced a two-year ban on issuing new gun permits, as well as revising existing permits and enforcing stricter rules for storing firearms.