At least 10 people killed, including two children, as an armed man goes on a shooting rampage after a bar brawl in the western Montenegrin city of Cetinje.
Police identified 45-year-old Aco Martinovic as the primary suspect in a Wednesday attack in Cetinje.
The attack claimed the lives of at least 10 people, including two children, and critically injured four others.
Montenegro’s Interior Minister Danilo Saranovic says Martinovic went on a shooting spree after a fight broke out at the bar he was at. Police say he shot and killed the bar owner and his children and even members of his own family.
The suspect is still on the run, “at this moment, we are focused on arresting him,” Saranovic told reporters.
Police dispatched special troops to search for the attacker in Cetinje, located some 30 kilometres northwest of the capital, Podgorica. All the roads in and out of the city have been blocked as police swarmed the streets.
Saranovic warned the suspect was extremely dangerous, and urged residents of Cetinje to remain indoors until Martinovic’s arrest.
“The level of rage and brutality shows that sometimes such people … are even more dangerous than members of organised criminal gangs,” Saranovic said.
Authorities say Martinovic was at the bar throughout the day with other guests when the brawl broke out. Police Commissioner Lazar Scepanovic says the attacker went home and returned to the bar with a weapon, opening fire at around 5:30 pm.
“He killed four people” at the bar, before heading out and then continued shooting at three more locations, said Scepanovic. “He tried to take the lives of four more people, and then fled with the vehicle he was using, which we have found.”
The suspect also appears to have had past run-ins with the law. In 2005, he received a suspended sentence for violent behaviour and appealed his latest conviction for illegal possession of a firearm. Montenegrin media reports say Martinovic had built-up a reputation for violence and erratic behaviour.
Wednesday’s shooting was the second shooting rampage over a three-year period in Cetinje, Montenegro’s historic capital. In mid-2022, an attacker also killed 10 people, including two children before he was neutralised by a passerby.
The small country, home to approximately 620,000 people is known for its gun culture, with many people owning weapons.
Montenegro’s President Jakov Milatovic said in a post on X, formerly Twitter, that he was “shocked and stunned” by the tragedy. “Instead of holiday joy, we have been gripped by sadness over the loss of innocent lives”.
Prime Minister Milojko Spajic went to the hospital where the four wounded people were being treated to assess their situation.
The Montenegrin premier announced three-days of national mourning, and said police teams are continuing to search for the suspect who executed what he called a “terrible tragedy that has affected us all”.
Additional sources • AP
