Montenegrin gunman kills 10 before being shot dead by passers-by

A man was shot dead on Friday in the streets of the western Montenegrin city of Cetinje, killing 10 people, including two children, before being shot dead by a passerby, officials said.

Montenegrin police chief Zoran Brdjanin said in a video statement that the attacker was a 34-year-old man identified only by his initials VB.

Burjanin said the man first shot dead two children, 8 and 11, and their mother, who lived in the attacker’s house in the Medovina neighborhood of Cetinje, with a shotgun.

The gunman then went out into the street and shot 13 people at random, seven of them dead.

“At this time, it’s unclear what prompted the VB to commit such brutality,” Brdjanin said.

Prosecutor Andrijana Nastic, who coordinated the crime scene investigation, said the gunman was killed by a passerby and a police officer was among the wounded.

Cetinje, the seat of Montenegro’s former royal government, is located 22 miles west of Podgorica, the current capital of the small Balkan state.

Prime Minister Drittan Abazovic wrote on his Telegram channel that the incident was “an unprecedented tragedy” and urged people “in their thoughts, with the families of the innocent victims, their relatives” , friends and with all the people of Cetinje”.

President Milo Djukanovic tweeted that he was “deeply moved by the news of the horrific tragedy” and called for “solidarity” with families who lost loved ones in the incident.