At least ten people, including two children, were killed, and four others were seriously injured on Wednesday during a shooting spree in the Montenegrin city of Cetinje. The violence followed a bar brawl, officials confirmed, and the suspect remains at large.
Authorities identified the attacker as 45-year-old Aco Martinovic. He allegedly killed the bar owner, the owner’s children, and several of his own family members, according to Interior Minister Danilo Saranovic.
“At this moment, we are focused on arresting him,” Saranovic told reporters during a press briefing.
Special police units were dispatched to Cetinje, located about 30 kilometers (18 miles) from Montenegro’s capital, Podgorica. Roads leading in and out of the city were blocked as law enforcement conducted a large-scale manhunt.
Saranovic urged residents to stay indoors, describing the suspect as highly dangerous. “The level of rage and brutality shows that sometimes such people … are even more dangerous than members of organized criminal gangs,” he said.
Police Commissioner Lazar Scepanovic detailed the sequence of events. Martinovic, who had been at the bar earlier in the day, returned with a weapon after a brawl erupted around 5:30 p.m. “He killed four people” at the bar before moving to three other locations, Scepanovic said. “He tried to take the lives of four more people, and then fled with the vehicle he was using, which we have found.”
Authorities revealed that Martinovic had a history of violence, including a suspended sentence in 2005 and a pending appeal for illegal weapons possession. Local media described him as having a history of erratic and violent behavior.
Montenegro, a small nation with a population of around 620,000, has a strong gun culture, with many citizens owning firearms. This tragedy marks the second shooting rampage in Cetinje in recent years. In August 2022, an attacker killed 10 people, including two children, before being fatally shot by a passerby.
President Jakov Milatovic expressed his shock and sorrow over the latest tragedy. “Instead of holiday joy … we have been gripped by sadness over the loss of innocent lives,” he shared on the social media platform X.
Prime Minister Milojko Spajic visited the hospital where the injured were being treated and announced three days of national mourning. “This is a terrible tragedy that has affected us all,” Spajic said, adding that police forces were fully mobilized to capture the suspect.
