A gunman killed at least four people and wounded four others on Wednesday in the west Montenegro city of Cetinjepolice and local media said. The shooter was on the run.
Police have sent special troops to search for the attacker in Cetinje, about 30 kilometers (18 miles) northwest of the capital, Podgorica. A statement said the man opened fire in a bar and fled the scene armed. Police identified him only by his initials AM and said he was 45 years old.
Police said there were at least four dead, while state television RTCG and other Montenegrin media said seven people were killed and that the shooting followed a bar brawl.
Montenegro’s Interior Minister Danilo Saranovic said “a number of people were killed,” including the bar owner and his family members, as well as the shooter’s family members – but did not give a definitive death toll.
President Jakov Milatovic said he was “shocked and stunned” by the tragedy. “Instead of holiday joy… we were gripped by sadness for the loss of innocent lives,” Milatovic said on the X social platform.
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Prime Minister Milojko Spajic went to the hospital where the wounded were treated and announced three days of mourning, without specifying how many were killed.
“This is a terrible tragedy that has affected us all,” Spajic said. “All the police teams are out.”
Little Montenegro, which has about 620,000 people, is known for its weapon culture and many people traditionally have weapons.
Wednesday’s shooting was the second shooting in the past three years in Cetinje, Montenegro’s historic capital. An assailant killed 10 people, including two children, in August 2022, before he was shot and killed by a passerby in Cetinje.
The RTCG report identified the man as Aco Martinovic, saying he was known for erratic behavior and had been arrested in the past for illegal possession of weapons. The TV posted the photo of the reported suspect on its website.
The report said he went home to get his gun and returned to the bar where he opened fire and killed and wounded several people. He then went to another site where he killed the bar owner’s children and a woman, the report added.
Police appealed to residents to stay calm and stay at home, ruling out a clash between criminal gangs.
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2025-01-01 20:24:00
