CETINJE, Montenegro — Shock and dismay prevailed in Montenegro on Thursday after a gunman fatally shot 12 folks, together with two kids, in a western city earlier than killing himself.
A minimum of 4 others had been wounded within the taking pictures rampage in Cetinje on Wednesday that adopted a bar brawl, officers stated. This was the second such incident within the city previously three years.
The shooter, recognized as 45-year-old Aco Martinović, killed the proprietor of the bar, the bar proprietor’s kids and his circle of relatives members, officers have stated.
The attacker, who first fled after the rampage, was later situated and surrounded by police. He died after taking pictures himself within the head, Inside Minister Danilo Šaranović stated.
Residents of Cetinje, a city of some 17,000 folks, had been shocked and grief-stricken.
“I knew all of those folks personally, additionally the attacker. I believe when he did that, he was out of his thoughts,” stated Vesko Milošević, a retiree from Cetnje. “What do I do know, he went from place to position and killed folks. Its a disaster.”
Vanja Popović, whose family are among the many victims, stated that “we’re all in shock.”
“How can I really feel after this?” Popović stated. “Nobody anticipated it. You may’t even ask anybody something.”
Police had dispatched a particular unit to seek for the attacker within the city, which is situated about 30 kilometers (18 miles) northwest of Podgorica, the capital. All roads out and in of the town had been blocked for hours as police swarmed the streets.
Šaranović stated that the shooter had died whereas being taken to a hospital within the capital and succumbed from the “severity of his accidents.”
Officers have stated that the attacker was on the bar all through the day with different company when the brawl erupted. He then went dwelling, introduced again a weapon and opened fireplace at round 5:30 p.m.
Prosecutor Andrijana Nastić stated Thursday that the attacker went to 6 places in the course of the taking pictures rampage, together with the final one, the place he shot himself.
4 males had been killed on the bar, Nastić stated. The shooter then moved on to a different location the place he killed 4 extra folks, after which two kids at a 3rd website. He then went on to kill two extra folks at two different places earlier than finally taking pictures himself, Nastić stated.
“Additional investigation will decide the precise circumstances of the occasions,” she added.
The federal government has declared three days of nationwide mourning beginning on Thursday, and all deliberate New Yr’s festivities have been canceled all through the nation.
Prime Minister Milojko Spajić stated that the federal government might attempt to impose a complete ban on weapons “as a result of we should ask ourselves after this who must be allowed to have weapons in Montenegro.”
The small Adriatic Sea nation, which has a inhabitants of round 620,000 folks, is thought for its gun tradition and many individuals historically have weapons.
In August 2022 in Cetinje, which is Montenegro’s historic capital, an attacker killed 10 folks, together with two kids, earlier than he was shot and killed by a passerby.
Police have stated that the suspect in Wednesday’s taking pictures obtained a suspended sentence in 2005 for violent conduct and had appealed his newest conviction for unlawful weapons possession. Montenegrin media have reported that he was recognized for erratic and violent conduct.
“As a substitute of vacation pleasure … we have now been gripped by disappointment over the lack of harmless lives,” Montenegro’s President Jakov Milatović stated in a submit on X.
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Jovana Gec and Dušan Stojanović contributed to this report from Belgrade, Serbia.
