At least 12 dead, including two children, in shooting in southern Montenegro

A shooting by an assailant in a city in southern Montenegro claimed the lives of at least 12 people, including two children. The 45-year-old assailant, who opened fire on Wednesday, January 1, 2025, at several locations in the city of Cetinje, including a restaurant, ultimately took his own life. The Prime Minister of Montenegro described the incident, which occurred on the first day of the new year, as a 'tragedy' and declared three days of national mourning. According to the Minister of Interior of Montenegro, the assailant, who was intoxicated and shot after a fight in the restaurant, also killed 'several members' of his family. Among the victims of the shooting, which took place at four locations in Cetinje, were two children aged 10 and 13. Four others were also 'seriously injured' and were transferred to a hospital in Podgorica, the capital of Montenegro, but according to the country's police chief, their lives 'are no longer in danger.' According to statistics from at least one organization that monitors the number of weapons in Balkan countries, Montenegro, with a population of 620,000, has about 245,000 firearms in civilian hands. The British newspaper The Guardian reported that gun ownership has historically been prevalent among the people of Montenegro. Milojko Spajić, the Prime Minister of Montenegro, in an interview with a local media outlet, pointed out this fact and said, 'Now we must ask ourselves who should be allowed to carry weapons.' According to Agence France-Presse, in 2022, a male assailant also killed ten people, including two children, in the same city of Cetinje with a firearm.