Shooting in Cetinje, Montenegro: Suspect dies of self-inflicted wounds after killing at least 12 people

Podgorica, Montenegro
Reuters
—

A man shot dead 12 people in a rampage in a small town in Montenegro before dying of self-inflicted wounds early Thursday, authorities said, in one of the tiny Balkan nation’s worst mass killings.

The attacker, named by police as 45-year-old Aleksandar Aco Martinovic, initially killed four people when he opened fire after a fight at a restaurant in Cetinje on Wednesday afternoon.

He then shot eight people, including two children, in three other locations, prosecutor Andrijana Nastic said.

Martinovic was cornered by officers near his home in the city and tried to kill himself, then died of his injuries on the way to hospital in the early hours of Thursday, Interior Minister Danilo Saranovic said.

“When he saw that he was in a hopeless situation, he attempted suicide. He did not succumb to his injuries on the spot, but during the transport to the hospital,” Saranovic told Montenegro’s state broadcaster RTCG.

The incident is the second shooting in three years in the same town 38 km (24 miles) west of the capital Podgorica. In 2022, a gunman killed 10 people, including two children, before being shot dead.

Police said Martinovic had been drinking heavily and had a history of illegal gun possession.

After an argument with patrons at the restaurant, he went home, got a gun, returned to the restaurant and started shooting, police said.

Four other people suffered life-threatening injuries in Wednesday’s vandalism, and one remains in a critical condition, said Aleksandar Radovic, director of the clinical center in Podgorica.

Police said Wednesday’s shooting was not related to organized crime.

Montenegrin Prime Minister Milojko Spajic called the vandalism a “terrible tragedy” and declared three days of national mourning. President Jakov Milatovic said he was “appalled” by the attack.

Spajic said authorities would consider tightening the criteria for owning and carrying firearms, including the possibility of a complete ban on weapons. It is likely to face resistance in Montenegro, which has a deep-rooted gun culture.

Despite strict gun laws, the Western Balkans of Serbia, Montenegro, Bosnia, Albania, Kosovo and North Macedonia remain awash with weapons. Most are from the wars of the 1990s, but some even date from the First World War.

This story has been updated.