Montenegro's National Security Council met in an emergency session today to clamp down on illegal weapons after a gunman shot and killed 12 people in the second such tragedy in less than three years in the small Balkan country, the Associated Press reported.
The council is expected to call for a new gun law and urgent action to confiscate the alleged large number of illegal weapons in Montenegro, which has a population of about 620,000, BTA reported.
The Adriatic country has a deep-rooted gun culture. State broadcaster RTCG reported that Montenegro has the sixth highest number of illegal weapons per capita in the world.
The gunman who killed 12 people in a shooting in the southern town of Cetinje on Wednesday did so with an illegally owned .99mm pistol. Police said they found 37 shell casings at the scene of the shooting, as well as more than 80 other rounds of ammunition in his possession.
The 45-year-old man, identified as Aco Martinovic, eventually shot himself in the head and died shortly afterwards. It is believed he broke out after a bar fight and went home to retrieve his gun, before launching a bloody rampage across several locations late Wednesday afternoon.
Martinovic's victims included seven men, three women - including his sister - and two children born in 2011 and 2016. Four other people were seriously injured and remain hospitalized.
Police Commissioner Lazar Scepanovic described Wednesday's shooting as "one of the biggest tragedies in the history of Montenegro".
The shooting has fueled concerns about the level of violence in Montenegrin society, which is politically divided, the agency noted. She also raised questions about the readiness of state institutions to deal with issues, including gun ownership.
Hundreds of people in Montenegro lit candles and observed a moment of silence tonight in memory of the victims, while calling for answers, including why this happened. Many are angry with the authorities for not doing more to prevent such tragedies, and protests are planned for the coming days.
Mira Škorić, a pensioner from Podgorica, said: "I can't believe we have failed so much as a society. We have failed as people too".
In another attack in August 2022, an attacker killed 10 people, including two children, before being killed by a passerby in Cetinje, the historic capital of Montenegro, located about 30 kilometers northwest of the capital Podgorica.
The shootings "demand a serious examination of the responsibility and preparedness of the security system," Human Rights Action and the Women's Rights Center said in a statement. "What has changed in the security system in Cetinje since 2022?".
The police said that Martinović's actions were not planned and could not have been predicted or prevented, even though he had previous convictions for aggressive behavior and illegal possession of weapons and was undergoing psychiatric treatment.
Vesna Pejović, a Cetinje resident who lost her daughter and two grandchildren in the 2022 shooting, says that the police should have done more to protect citizens after the first bloodshed.
"What kind of country and system is this where children are being killed? Are we at war?" she asks. "Where are the police?"
Several hundred citizens gathered today to protest in the Montenegrin capital, Podgorica, over the killing of 12 people earlier this week, the Montenegrin news agency MINA reported.
On January 1, a man shot seven men, three women - including his sister - and two children aged 10 and 13 in the southern Montenegrin town of Cetinje, then shot himself in the head and died on the way to the hospital. Four seriously injured remain in hospital.
After a fight in a bar, the 45-year-old man, identified as Aco Martinovic, is believed to have gone home to retrieve his weapon before launching a bloody attack at several locations in Cetinje, the Associated Press reported.
This evening, citizens gathered in front of the Montenegrin government building in silence, then turned to police, chanting "Where were you on January 1st" and "Shame on you."
They also chanted the names of the boys killed in Cetinje.
The protesters carried banners reading "Your hands are bloody" and "12 minutes of silence".
A meeting of the National Security Council is underway in the government building regarding the tragedy in Cetinje.
Earlier, citizens announced a protest on social networks, demanding that responsibility be borne for the tragedy and that the entire political leadership of the security system be replaced.
Informal student group "Where to Tomorrow?" announced protests in Cetinje and Podgorica for Sunday.