Suspect after a fatal Montenegro massacre dies of self-harm

Von WOM

in Podgorica, Montenegro, was shot in early Thursday, a man who had previously killed 12 people in a small town before injuring himself. The authorities reported that it is one of the worst massacres in the history of the small Balkans state.

Details on the attack

The attacker, identified as the 45-year-old Aleksandar Aco Martinovic, opened the fire on Wednesday afternoon after a dispute in a restaurant in Cetinje and initially killed four people. He then shot eight people in three other locations, including two children, as the prosecutor Andrijana Nastic announced.

arrest and aftermath

After the police had surrounded Martinovic near his place of residence, he tried to commit suicide, but died due to his injuries on the way to the hospital in the early morning of Thursday, Interior Minister Danilo Saranovic reported. "When he saw that he was in a hopeless situation, he tried suicide. However, he did not immediately die of his injuries, but during transport to the hospital," said Saranovic in an interview with the state broadcaster Rtcg.

previous incidents

This incident is already the second firearm use within three years in Cetinje, which is 38 kilometers west of the capital Podgorica. In 2022, an armed perpetrator killed ten people, including two children before he was killed.

alcohol and illegal weapons

The police said that Martinovic was heavily alcoholic and had a history in dealing with illegal weapons. After an argument with guests in the restaurant, he returned home, brought a gun, then returned to the restaurant and started shooting.

injured and reactions of the authorities

In the killing run, four other people were seriously injured, with one of them in a critical condition, according to Aleksandar Radovic, the director of the clinical center in Podgorica. The police said that the incident was not related to organized crime.

grief and future measures

The Montenegrin Prime Minister Milojko Spajic described the massacre as a "terrible tragedy" and announced three days of national grief. President Jakov Milatovic said horrified about the attack. Spajic explained that the authorities would exacerbate the criteria for possession and wearing firearms and even consider a complete ban on weapons. However, this could encounter resistance in Montenegro, where there is a deeply rooted weapons culture.

weapon position in the western balcony states

Despite the strict weapons laws, the region of the Western Balkans, which Serbia, Montenegro, Bosnia, Albania, Kosovo and Northern Macedonia belong to, is still flooded with weapons. Most weapons come from the wars of the 1990s, some even go back to the First World War.

This story has been updated.