12 killed in shooting spree at Montenegro restaurant

At least 12 people, including two children, were killed Wednesday by a gunman who launched a shooting spree in a restaurant near the southern Montenegro city of Cetinje that spanned several locations, authorities said.

Police launched an hours-long manhunt for the suspect, who "shot himself in the head" when he was surrounded, police chief Lazar Scepanovic told reporters.

"An attempt was made to transport him to a clinical centre but he succumbed to his injuries in the meantime," Scepanovic said.

In his killing spree, which started around 5:30 pm local time (1630 GMT) in Bajice village near Cetinje, the 45-year-old gunned down at least 12 people, two of whom were aged 10 and 13, according to the police.

Interior Minister Danilo Saranovic said he had also "killed members of his own family".

"A terrible tragedy has struck all of us in Cetinje, in the village of Bajice," Prime Minister Milojko Spajic told state broadcaster RTCG.

Four people were also seriously wounded and transported to a hospital in the capital Podgorica, though police chief Scepanovic later said their lives were "no longer in danger".

Scepanovic said the suspect "had consumed alcoholic beverages all day" before the incident between him and another restaurant guest.

He then "went home, took a weapon, used firearms and killed four people at one location", and then went to three other places.

The government declared three days of national mourning from Thursday.

An earlier police statement had identified the shooter as "A.M., 45". Ruling out a "showdown between organised criminal groups", the police also said the firearms used were illegal.

- 'Shocked and shaken' -

Prime Minister Spajic told state broadcaster RTCG the incident was a "restaurant fight" gone wrong and that he would be tightening the country's criteria for firearms possession.

"It was simply a restaurant fight where guns were drawn and everything went in a different direction in which it should not have gone," he said.

"This is a tragedy after which we must ask ourselves who should be allowed to possess firearms in Montenegro," said Spajic.

Police had sealed off the area surrounding the restaurant, said an AFP photographer. Dozens of officers, police vehicles and at least one ambulance were at the scene.

President Jakov Milatovic said he was "shocked and shaken by this tragedy that has cast a shadow over our Cetinje".

"Our thoughts tonight are with the families who lost their loved ones and the citizens of Cetinje," Milatovic said on social media platform X.

"The whole of Montenegro feels and shares your pain. We pray and hope for the recovery of all the wounded."

According to the Small Arms Survey (SAS), a Swiss research program, there are approximately 245,000 firearms in circulation in Montenegro.

But mass shootings are rare in the Balkan nation of more than 620,000 people.

In 2022, a man murdered 10 Cetinje residents, including two children, in broad daylight before being killed, one of the deadliest such incidents to rock the Balkan country.

Organised crime and corruption have remained two major issues plaguing Montenegro, which authorities have pledged to tackle under pressure from the European Union that the tiny nation aspires to join.