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Agence France-Presse

A gunman who started a shooting spree at a restaurant in southern Montenegro killed a total of 12 people, including two children, a prosecutor said on Thursday, in one of the Balkan nation’s worst mass killings.
“Twelve people were killed, of whom two were children,” prosecutor Andrijana Nastic told reporters in Cetinje, raising the previous toll of at least 10 from Wednesday’s attack.
The gunman died after shooting himself in the head, police said early on Thursday.
The killing spree started at around 5.30pm local time in Bajice village near Cetinje, according to police. The victims were killed at five different locations, with the first four in the restaurant, the prosecutor said.
“Each location was inspected and evidence was taken.
“Prosecutor and police actions are ongoing, to determine the circumstances under which the event took place,” Nastic said.
“A terrible tragedy has struck all of us in Cetinje, in the village of Bajice,” Prime Minister Milojko Spajic told state broadcaster RTCG.
All the victims were his godfathers, friends … he killed his own sister, with whom he had good relations
Lazar Scepanovic, Montenegro police director
The police ruled out a “showdown between organised criminal groups”. They said firearms used were illegal.
The gunman was identified by police as Aleksandar Martinovic, 45.
The victims had close links to the gunman, police said. “All the victims were his godfathers, friends … he killed his own sister, with whom he had good relations and with whom he spent New Year’s Eve,” national police director Lazar Scepanovic said.
In 2022, police found two airguns and a home-made bomb at Martinovic’s home. He was sentenced to three months in prison but appealed and court proceedings were still continuing at the time of the shooting.
He was also ordered to undergo psychiatric evaluation.
Four people were also seriously wounded in the attacks and taken to a hospital in the capital, Podgorica.
The lives of three of the victims were still in danger, Health Minister Vojislav Simun said on Thursday.
Scepanovic said the suspect “had consumed alcoholic beverages all day” before the incident between him and another restaurant guest.
He then “went home, took a weapon, used firearms and killed four people at one location”, and then went to three other places.

Ruling out a “showdown between organised criminal groups”, the police also said the firearms used were illegal.
Prime Minister Spajic told state broadcaster RTCG the incident was a “restaurant fight” gone wrong and that he would be tightening the country’s criteria for firearms possession.
“It was simply a restaurant fight where guns were drawn and everything went in a different direction in which it should not have gone,” he said.
“This is a tragedy after which we must ask ourselves who should be allowed to possess firearms in Montenegro,” said Spajic.
The government declared three days of national mourning from Thursday.
Police had sealed off the area surrounding the restaurant. Dozens of officers, police vehicles and at least one ambulance were at the scene.


President Jakov Milatovic said he was “shocked and shaken by this tragedy that has cast a shadow over our Cetinje”.
“Our thoughts tonight are with the families who lost their loved ones and the citizens of Cetinje,” Milatovic said on social media.
“The whole of Montenegro feels and shares your pain. We pray and hope for the recovery of all the wounded.”
There were few people on the streets in Cetinje on Thursday and all public venues were closed.
“It was dreadful. Such uncertainty, such fear among all the families in Cetinje. You didn’t dare look through the window,” 43-year-old resident Slavica Vusurovic said.
“When I … saw it on TV, I started crying,” said Slobo Matic, 64.
Later on Thursday, in Podgorica and most other Montenegrin cities, scores of people gathered in silence to light candles to commemorate the victims.
Sanja Jovanovic, from Podgorica, said she was angry over the government’s unwillingness to accept its share of responsibility for the violence that permeates the society.
“The society is in a crisis,” Jovanovic said.

Spajic scheduled a session of the National Security Council for Friday to discuss the aftermath of the shooting and how to restrict illegal weapons, the government said.
The proposals include tighter criteria for owning and carrying firearms, and recruitment of more police officers.
However, stricter gun controls would probably face stiff opposition. All the Western Balkan countries – Montenegro, Serbia, Bosnia, Albania, Kosovo and North Macedonia – are awash with weapons, mostly from the wars of the 1990s.
According to the Small Arms Survey, a Swiss research programme, there are around 245,000 firearms in circulation in Montenegro.
But mass shootings are rare in the Balkan nation of more than 620,000 people.
In 2022, a man murdered 10 Cetinje residents, including two children, in broad daylight before being killed, one of the deadliest such incidents to rock the Balkan country.
Organised crime and corruption have remained two major issues plaguing Montenegro, which authorities have pledged to tackle under pressure from the European Union that the tiny nation aspires to join.
Additional reporting by Reuters


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Crime

At least 12 die in Montenegro shooting spree before suspect turns gun on himself

Workers carry a body after a gunman opened fire and killed several people in Cetinje, Montenegro. Photo: Reuters

The restaurant where the gunman opened fire and killed several people. Photo: Reuters

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The truck that was used in the attack. Photo: AP

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A police forensic team inspects the house where a gunman started a mass shooting in Cetinje, Montenegro on Friday. Photo: Reuters 

The house where a mass shooting took place in Cetinje, Montenegro on Friday. Photo: AFP

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World

Europe

Prime Minister Spajic said shooting rampage, one of the Balkan nation’s worst mass killings, was a ‘restaurant fight’ gone wrong


Prime Minister Spajic said shooting rampage, one of the Balkan nation’s worst mass killings, was a ‘restaurant fight’ gone wrong.


Montenegro