A major shooting incident occurred in Montenegro; at least 10 people were killed by the murderer
Montenegro Bar Shooting: At least 10 people, including two children, were killed and four others were injured in a shooting in the Montenegrin city of Cetinje on Wednesday (January 1) following a bar fight. The killer fled but later shot himself when surrounded by police, authorities said.
Police identified the attacker as Aco Martinovic, 45. Martinovic killed the owner of the bar, his children, and his own family in the city of Cetinje, Montenegro’s Interior Minister Danilo Saranovic said at a news conference.
“At this moment, our focus is on arresting him,” Saranovic said at the time.
Police sent special forces to search for the killer. Cetinje is located about 30 kilometers northwest of the capital Podgorica and was once the capital of Montenegro.
A statement said the man fled the scene with weapons after opening fire in the bar.
Police Chief Lazar Scepanovic told reporters that the suspect “shot himself in the head” as he was surrounded following an hours-long manhunt.
Authorities “tried to take him to a medical center, but during that time he died from his injuries,” Szczepanovich said.
President Jakov Milatovic said he was “shocked” by the tragedy. “In contrast to festive joy, we are in sorrow over the loss of innocent lives,” Milatovic said on the social media platform X.
Prime Minister Milojko Spajic went to the hospital where the injured were being treated and declared three days of national mourning.
“This is a terrible tragedy that affects all of us,” Spajic said.
Montenegro, with a population of about 620,000, is known for its gun culture, with many traditionally carrying weapons.
Wednesday’s attack was the second major shooting in Cetinje in the past three years. In 2022, an attacker killed 10 people, including two children, in Cetinje before being shot dead by a passerby.
The public broadcaster Radio and Television of Montenegro published a photo of Martinovic on its website. A report from the station said he was known to have erratic behavior and had been detained in the past for illegal possession of weapons. The report said he
went home to get his gun, returned to the bar, and opened fire inside, killing and wounding several people, before going to another location and killing the bar owner’s two children and a woman.
Before the suspect was found, police had urged residents to remain calm and stay in their homes and ruled out the possibility of a gang fight.
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