CETINJE, Montenegro - 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.
“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 around 5:30pm local time on Wednesday, in Bajice village near the southern town of 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,” she said. “Prosecutorial and police actions are ongoing, to determine the circumstances under which the event took place.”
Four people were also seriously wounded and transported to a hospital in the capital, Podgorica.
The lives of three of them were still in danger, Health Minister Vojislav Simun said.
The police ruled out a “showdown between organised criminal groups”, but said the firearms used were illegal.
The government declared three days of national mourning from Thursday.
The two minors killed on Wednesday night were the children of the restaurant owner, who was also killed, Interior Minister Danilo Saranovic told journalists. The shooter had also “killed members of his own family”.
The suspect had “consumed alcoholic beverages all day” before the incident between him and another guest, said police chief Lazar Scepanovicc.
He then “went home, took a weapon, used firearms and killed four people at one location”.
Prime Minister Milojko Spajic announced that he would be tightening the criteria for firearms possession.
“This is a tragedy after which we must ask ourselves who should be allowed to possess firearms in Montenegro,” said Spajic.
Mass shootings are rare in the small Balkan nation.
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.
