New Year, Old Story

Montenegro is observing three days of national mourning after 12 people, including two children, were killed on New Year’s Day in a rare mass shooting in the town of Cetinje, according to BBC News.

Authorities said the suspect, 45-year-old Aco Martinović, had been drinking heavily all day and got into an argument with another guest at a restaurant on the evening of Jan. 1.

Following the argument, Martinović went home and later returned to the restaurant with a gun, killing several people, including the owner of the restaurant and his two children, ages 10 and 13. Martinović then drove to five other locations in the Cetinje area and shot several more people, including members of his own family.

Afterward, the alleged shooter fled but was located and surrounded by police after an hours-long manhunt. He died en route to hospital after shooting himself in the head, Interior Minister Danilo Šaranović said, according to the Associated Press.

This is the second incident of a mass shooting in the town, Montenegro’s historical capital, in the past three years. Another man shot and killed 10 people, including children, following a family dispute in 2022, reported the AP.

After the latest shooting, the government has declared three days of national mourning and canceled all planned New Year’s festivities throughout the small Balkan country. Prime Minister Milojko Spajić said the shooting had “shrouded our country in black.”

The prime minister also said that the country’s security council would hold an emergency meeting on Thursday to “urgently consider all options” to protect the public from similar events, including a complete ban on weapons.

He added that “because we must ask ourselves after this who should be allowed to have guns in Montenegro,” according to the wire.

While mass shootings are still relatively uncommon in Montenegro, the nation has a strong gun culture, and many individuals possess weapons.