At least 10 killed in mass shooting in Montenegro, suspect killed himself | News about gun violence
The suspected attacker in the shooting in the city of Cetinje shot himself in the head after the police surrounded him.
Two children were among at least 10 people killed in a mass shooting that began at a restaurant in the Montenegrin town of Cetinje and continued at three different locations, authorities said.
The local suspect in the shooting, identified by police as Aleksandar Martinovic, 45, was confirmed dead early Thursday morning after he pointed the gun at himself and died of his injuries while being transported to hospital.
The police surrounded the suspect near his house in Cetinje. When the police ordered him “to put down his weapon, he shot himself in the head”, state police chief Lazar Šćepanović told reporters.
“They tried to transfer him to the clinical center, but in the meantime he succumbed to his injuries,” he said.
In a post on social media confirming that the suspected attacker had died, Montenegrin Prime Minister Milojko Spajić said that the mass murder had “turned our country into black”.
“This senseless act caused immeasurable sadness and bitterness in each of us. There are no words of consolation,” Spajić said.
Montenegro’s National Security Council will now consider “all options” after the attack, including a total ban on gun ownership, the prime minister said, adding that the country will observe three days of national mourning.
Interior Minister Danilo Šaranović told reporters that the two minors killed in the attacks that began on Wednesday evening were the children of the owner of the restaurant where the shooting began. The owner was also killed, he said.
The attacker “killed members of his own family,” the minister said, adding that the suspect was believed to have been drinking heavily before the rampage.
Four people seriously wounded in the attack are fighting for their lives in a hospital in the capital of Montenegro, Podgorica.
The suspect, who the media reported had a history of illegal gun possession and received a suspended sentence in 2005 for violent behavior, fled after the shooting and was at large in Cetinje, a small town in a valley surrounded by rugged hills about 38 km (23, 6 miles). ) west of Podgorica.
All roads in and out of the city were blocked as police swarmed the streets before surrounding the suspect near his home.
The mass shooting was the second armed attack in the past three years on Cetinje, the historic capital of Montenegro. The gunman also killed 10 people, including two children, in August 2022 before being shot by a bystander, the Associated Press news agency reported.
Montenegro, which has a population of just over 620,000, is known for its gun culture and many people traditionally have guns.
Organized crime and corruption are the two main problems that also plague Montenegro, which the authorities have undertaken to tackle under pressure from the European Union, which the tiny nation wants to join.
