A gunman killed at least four people and wounded four others on Wednesday in the town of Cetinje, western Montenegro, police and local media said. The shooter was at large.
Police sent special troops to search for the attacker in Cetinje, about 30 kilometers (18 miles) northwest of the capital, Podgorica. A statement said the man opened fire in a bar and fled the scene armed. Police identified him only by his initials AM and said he was 45 years old.
Police said there were at least four deaths, while state television RTCG and other Montenegrin media reported that seven people were killed and that the shooting occurred after a fight in a bar.
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The Prime Minister of Montenegro, Milojko Spajic, went to the hospital where the wounded were being treated and announced three days of mourning. He also did not specify how many died.
“This is a terrible tragedy that has affected us all,” Spajic said. “All police teams are out.”
Little Montenegro, which has about 620,000 inhabitants, 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 being shot dead by a passerby in Cetinje.
The RTCG report identified the man as Aco Martinovic, saying he was known for his erratic behavior and had been arrested in the past for illegal weapons possession. The television posted the suspect's photo on its website.
The report says he went home to get his gun and returned to the bar where he opened fire, killing and wounding several people. He then went to another location where he killed the bar owner's children and a woman, the report added.
Police asked residents to remain calm and stay in their homes, ruling out a confrontation between criminal gangs.
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