(Update 1: adds details throughout)
Detectives inspect the crime scene in Cetinje, Montenegro, 01 January 2025. EFE/EPA/STRINGER
Zagreb, Jan 1 (EFE).- A man suspected of killing at least 10 people in a shooting in Montenegro has died of self-inflicted injuries, the country’s interior ministry reported Wednesday.
Detectives inspect the crime scene in Cetinje, Montenegro, 01 January 2025. EFE/EPA/STRINGER
The incident, which left four others in critical condition, took place on Wednesday in Cetinje, about 30 kilometers northwest of the capital, Podgorica.
The shooter, identified as Aco Martinović, opened fire after a dispute in a bar before committing more homicides in three other places in the city, authorities said.
Interior Minister Danilo Saranovic said the shooter killed at least 10 people, while some local media outlets reported 12 fatalities: seven men, three women and two minors.
Among the victims were family members and children of the owner of the bar, who also died, as well as some relatives of the shooter, according to Saranovic.
Public broadcaster RTCG said Martinović had been behaving erratically and had previously been convicted for illegal possession of weapons.
After the crime, police launched a major operation to capture the suspect who had fled with a pistol.
Hours later, officers located the shooter with head injuries after an apparent suicide attempt and he died en route to hospital.
Prime Minister Milojko Spajić announced three days of national mourning and declared that he will propose a total ban on the possession of weapons by civilians to prevent similar tragedies in the future.
“This is a terrible tragedy that has affected us all,” he said earlier.
In Montenegro, mass shootings are rare. However, in 2022, 11 people, including two children, were killed in another gun incident.
Despite strict gun possession laws, numerous illegal weapons are in circulation in the Western Balkans, originating in part from the disintegration wars of the former Yugoslavia.
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