A shooting across several locations in Cetinje, Montenegro, left 12 people dead and four others wounded before the suspected attacker shot himself, authorities said. The dead included seven men, three women and two children born in 2011 and 2016.
Police identified the gunman as 45-year-old Aco Martinović. Officials said the violence followed a fight at a bar, where Martinović had spent time with other patrons during the day. Investigators said he went home, obtained a weapon and returned at about 5:30 p.m. to open fire.
Prosecutor Andrijana Nastić said the attacker moved through six locations. Four people were killed at the bar, followed by four more at another site. Two children were killed at a third location, and two additional victims died at two further places. Officials said those killed included the bar owner, the owner’s children and members of Martinović’s own family. Police Commissioner Lazar Šćepanović said most of the victims were people the attacker knew, including close friends and relatives.
A special police unit searched Cetinje while roads into and out of the town were blocked. Officers eventually located and surrounded Martinović near his home. Police said he shot himself in the head after being ordered to surrender and died while being taken to a hospital in Podgorica. Authorities described the attack as unplanned, while stressing that an investigation would establish the full circumstances.
The four wounded men were reported in serious condition. Cetinje, Montenegro’s historic capital, has about 17,000 residents and lies roughly 30 kilometres northwest of Podgorica. Hundreds of people gathered in its main square the following evening for a candlelight vigil.
Montenegro’s government cancelled planned New Year celebrations and announced three days of national mourning. Prime Minister Milojko Spajić said the national security council would consider measures including a possible prohibition on weapons possession. The country has a population of about 620,000 and a tradition of widespread gun ownership.
Residents described a community in shock as police investigators moved between homes and other locations connected with the killings. Officials called the episode one of the gravest tragedies in Montenegro’s history. The government response combined the immediate mourning period with a promise to reconsider who should legally be permitted to possess firearms, while the criminal inquiry continued to reconstruct the attacker’s movements and access to his weapon.
The shooting was the second mass killing in Cetinje in less than three years. In August 2022, another attacker killed 10 people, including two children, before being killed. Police said Martinović had received a suspended sentence for violent behaviour in 2005 and had appealed a more recent conviction for illegal weapons possession.
