A 45-year-old man killed several people in the historic Montenegrin city of Cetinje, authorities said Wednesday.
According to police, after a brief search, the suspect died on the way to the hospital after attempting suicide.
What else do we know about the shooting?
Interior Minister Danilo Saranovic said at least 10 people were killed and four were injured in the shooting.
The minister said the victims also included members of the suspect’s own family. He described the incident as “the result of troubled interpersonal relations” without giving further details.
According to media reports, the suspect had brawled at a restaurant and later returned and opened fire, killing several people, including the owner of the establishment.
Police chief Lazar Sespanovic said the suspect moved to three other locations, killing more people, including two children.
The police chief said that both the minors were children of the restaurant owner. The suspect had been drinking heavily throughout the day, Sespanovic said.
After police surrounded the suspect near his hometown of Cetinje, Interior Minister Saranovic told national broadcaster RTCG that he had shot himself.
The RTCG also reported that the suspect was previously known to the police for irregular behavior and had been detained for illegal possession of firearms.
Sespanovic said the suspect had received a suspended sentence in 2005 for violent behavior.
PM announces mourning, vows to tighten gun laws
Montenegrin Prime Minister Milojko Spajić went to the hospital where the injured were being treated and declared three days of mourning.
“This is a terrible tragedy that has affected all of us,” Spajic said. “All police teams are out.”
Spajic said authorities would tighten standards for carrying firearms and consider imposing a complete ban on the weapons.
He said that Montenegro would also need to solve the “chronic shortage” of police officers in all the country’s municipalities.
According to the RTCG, police from the capital Podgorica were sent as reinforcements to secure the crime scene and search for the suspect.
Saranovic said police had determined the location of the suspect, who was said to be armed and driving a motor vehicle.
Cetinje, which was the capital of the small Western Balkan country from 1878 to 1947, lies about 30 kilometers (18 mi) west of Podgorica.
In 2022, 11 people were killed in a shooting following a family dispute in Cetinje.
sdi/dj (AP, AFP, Reuters)
