A gunman who shot dead at least 12 people, including two children, in Montenegro committed suicide while surrounded by police, officials said Thursday.
At least four other people were wounded in the shooting Wednesday in the western city of Cetinje, which followed a bar fight, authorities said.
The shooter, identified as Aco Martinović, 45, killed the bar owner, his children and his own relatives, Interior Minister Danilo Šaranović said.
The attacker, who fled after the shooting, was later located and surrounded by police. He died after shooting himself in the head, Šaranović said.
Police had sent a special unit to search for the attacker in the city, located about 30 kilometers (18 miles) northwest of the capital, Podgorica. All roads in and out of the city have been blocked while police invaded the streets.
Šaranović said Martinović had died while being taken to a hospital in the capital and succumbed to the “severity of his injuries.”
The government has declared three days of national mourning starting Thursday, with Prime Minister Milojko Spajić describing the shooting as a “terrible tragedy.”
“The level of rage and brutality shows that sometimes such people… are even more dangerous than members of organized criminal gangs,” Šaranović said.
Martinović was in the bar throughout the day with other guests when the fight broke out, police commissioner Lazar Šćepanović said. He said Martinović returned home, brought a gun and opened fire around 5:30 p.m.
He “killed four people” in the bar before leaving, and then continued shooting in three more places, Šćepanović said.
He said the suspect received a suspended sentence in 2005 for violent behavior and had appealed his latest conviction for illegal weapons possession. Montenegrin media have reported that he was known for his erratic and violent behavior.
The small country of Montenegro, which has a population of around 620,000 people, is known for its gun culture and many people traditionally own guns.
Wednesday’s shooting was the second shooting in the last three years in Cetinje, the historic capital of Montenegro. An attacker killed 10 people, including two children, in August 2022 before he was shot dead by a passerby in Cetinje.
President Jakov Milatović said he was “shocked and stunned” by the tragedy.
“Instead of Christmas joy… we have been overcome with sadness over the loss of innocent lives,” Milatovic said in a post on X.
