CETINJE, Montenegro — Shock and grief prevailed in Montenegro on Thursday after a gunman shot and killed 12 people in a western town before killing himself, including two children.
At least four others were wounded in a shooting after a bar brawl in Cetinje on Wednesday, authorities said. This was the second such incident in the town in the last three years.
The shooter, identified as 45-year-old Aco Martinović, killed the bar owner, the bar owner’s children and members of his family, authorities said.
The attacker, who fled after the first massacre, was later found and surrounded by the police. He died after being shot in the head, Interior Minister Danilo Šaranović said.
The residents of Cetinje, about 17,000 inhabitants, were shocked and saddened.
“I knew all that person personally, including the attacker. I think he was out of his mind when he did that,” said Vesko Milošević, a retiree from Cetnje. “What do I know, he went from one place to another and killed people. It’s a disaster.”
Vanja Popović, whose relatives are among the victims, said “we are all shocked”.
“How will I feel after this?” Popovic said. “No one expected it. You can’t even ask anyone.”
Police sent a special unit to search for the attacker in the town, about 30 kilometers (18 miles) northwest of the capital Podgorica. All roads in and around the city were blocked for hours as police marched through the streets.
Šaranovic said the shooter died while being taken to a hospital in the capital and succumbed to “the severity of the injuries”.
Officials said the attacker had been at the bar all day when a fight broke out with other guests. He then went home, brought a gun, and shot himself at around 5:30 p.m
Prosecutor Andrijana Nastić said on Thursday that the attacker went to six locations during the shooting, including the last one, where he shot himself.
Four men were killed in the bar, Nastić said. He then killed four more people in another location, and then two children in a third location. He then killed two other people at two other locations before finally shooting himself, Nastić said.
“Investigations will determine the exact circumstances of the events,” he added.
The government has declared three days of national mourning from Thursday, and all planned New Year celebrations have been canceled across the country.
Prime Minister Milojko Spajić said the government may try to impose a total ban on weapons “because after that we have to ask ourselves who should be allowed to have weapons in Montenegro.”
The small Adriatic Sea nation of around 620,000 is known for its gun culture and many people traditionally carry guns.
In August 2022, in Cetinje, the historic capital of Montenegro, an attacker killed 10 people, including two children, before being shot dead by a pedestrian.
Police said the suspect in Wednesday’s shooting served a suspended sentence in 2005 for violent conduct and appealed his most recent conviction for illegal gun possession. Montenegrin media reported that he was known for his erratic and violent behavior.
“Instead of the joy of the holidays…we have been overcome by sadness over the loss of innocent lives,” Montenegrin President Jakov Milatović said in a message on X.
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Jovana Gec and Dušan Stojanovic contributed to this report from Belgrade, Serbia.
