A gunman, 45-year-old Aco Martinović, killed at least 12 people, including two children, in Cetinje, Montenegro, on Wednesday after a bar brawl. Four others were wounded.

The perpetrator, who escaped following the onslaught, was eventually apprehended and encircled by police. According to Šaranović, the deceased committed suicide by shooting himself in the head. Police had despatched a special squad to search for the attacker in the town, which is around 30 kilometres (18 miles) northwest of Podgorica, the capital. All highways into and out of the city have been closed as police flood the streets.

Šaranović said that Martinović had died while being taken to a hospital in the capital and succumbed from the “severity of his injuries.” The government has declared three days of national mourning starting on Thursday, with Prime Minister Milojko Spajić describing the shooting as a “terrible tragedy.” “The level of rage and brutality shows that sometimes such people … are even more dangerous than members of organized criminal gangs,” Šaranović said.

According to Police Commissioner Lazar Šćepanović, Martinović was there with other visitors at the pub during the brawl. According to the witness, Martinović went home .

ABC News A gunman who killed at least 12 people in Montenegro committed suicide. Montenegrin officials say a gunman who killed at least 12 people, including two children, committed suicide while surrounded by police. ByPREDRAG MILIC, Associated Press January 2, 2025, 8:59 AM. ABC News provides international headlines (1:12).Catch up on the latest headline-making stories from around the world. PODGORICA, Montenegro — A gunman who killed at least 12 people, including two children, in Montenegro committed suicide while being surrounded by police, officials said Thursday. At least four other people were injured in the shooting rampage in the western town of Cetinje on Wednesday, which followed a bar brawl, according to officials. Aco Martinović, 45, was identified as the shooter who killed the owner.

The catastrophe “shocked and stunned” President Jakov Milatović. “Instead of holiday joy… we have been gripped by sadness over the loss of innocent lives,” Milatovic wrote on X.