A New Year’s Day mass shooting in the Balkan country of Montenegro has resulted in a vow by the government to “curb illegal weapons,” the Associated Press is reporting.
The incident proves that mass shootings are not a phenomenon found only in the U.S.
A dozen people were fatally shot. According to Reuters, the shooting spree continued “for hours” before the killer, identified as 45-year-old Aco Martinovic. The incident erupted in the town of Cetinje., where thousands of people gathered for a candlelight vigil.
Reportedly, Prime Minister Milojko Spajić announced that people who own registered guns will be required to undergo new security and psychological checks. People who do not turn in illegal firearms will face tough punishment.
Montenegro is located along the Adriatic Sea’s eastern shoreline, east from Italy. It is a small nation of only about 630,000, the Reuters said.
Among the dead from the Wednesday rampage are seven men, three women and two children. One of the dead women was Martinovic’s sister. The killer ultimately took his own life, reports said.
This is not the first mass shooting in the country. Back in August 2022, ten people were gunned down before killer Vučko Borilović died in a hail of bullets fired by police. According to a narrative of that shooting found at Wikipedia, for a time, a private citizen identified as Nenad Kaluđerović was believed by many to have fired the fatal bullet. When he showed up two days later to give his account to police, his gun was confiscated and it was later determined police bullets killed Borilović.
The Associated Press is reporting that an emergency session of the country’s National Security Council was convened, and that body set in motion an effort to confiscate an untold number of “abundant illegal weapons” in possession of Montenegro citizens as a result of wars in the region decades ago.
Both mass shootings occurred in Cetinje, the historic capital of the country, located about 20 miles northwest from the present capital, Podgorica.
