An armed man kills at least 10 people, including 2 children, in a shooting rampage in Montenegro

PODGORICA, Montenegro —  At least 10 people, including two children, were killed and four others were wounded in a shooting Wednesday that followed a bar brawl in a western Montenegrin city, officials said. The shooter was on the run.

Police identified the attacker as 45-year-old Aco Martinovic. He killed the owner of the bar in the city of Cetinje, the bar owner’s children and his own family members, said Interior Minister Danilo Saranovic at a news conference.

“At this moment, we are focused on arresting him,” said Saranovic.

Police dispatched special troops to search for the attacker in Cetinje.

President Jakov Milatovic said he was “shocked and stunned” by the tragedy. “Instead of holiday joy ... we have been gripped by sadness over the loss of innocent lives,” Milatovic said on the social media platform X.

Prime Minister Milojko Spajic went to the hospital where the wounded were being treated and announced three days of mourning.

“This is a terrible tragedy that has affected us all,” said Spajic. “All police teams are out.”

Small Montenegro, which has some 620,000 people, is known for gun culture and many people traditionally have weapons. An attacker also killed 10 people, including two children, in August 2022 before he was shot and killed by a passerby in Cetinje.

A report by the radio and TV broadcaster RTCG, which published Martinovic’s photo on its website, said he was known for erratic behavior and had been detained in the past for illegal possession of weapons. It said he went home to get his gun and came back to the bar where he opened fire and killed and wounded several people. He then went to another site where he killed the bar owner’s children and a woman, the report added.

Milic writes for the Associated Press.