Thousands protest in Montenegro to demand ouster of top security officials over shooting

PODGORICA, Montenegro (AP) — Several thousand people rallied in Montenegro on Sunday demanding the resignations of top security officials over the shooting earlier this week that left 12 people dead, including two children.

Chanting “Resignations” and “Killers,” protesters outside the Interior Ministry building in the capital, Podgorica, demanded that Interior Minister Danilo Šaranović and Deputy Prime Minister for Security and Defense Aleksa Bečić step down.

Milo Perović, from a student-led group that helped organize the rally, told the crowd that innocent people died during their watch.

“You failed to protect us, so resign!” Perović said.

Hours earlier, hundreds of people held 12 minutes of silence for the 12 victims at a rally in Cetinje, Montenegro’s historic capital where the shooting took place on Wednesday. It was the second such massacre in the town in less than three years.

Many residents of Cetinje and other Montenegrins believe that police mishandled the situation and haven’t done enough to boost security since the first massacre, which happened in August 2022.

Wednesday’s shooting resulted from a bar brawl. A 45-year-old local man went home to get his gun before returning to the bar and opening fire. He killed four people there and eight more at various other locations before killing himself.

The massacre fueled concerns about the level of violence in Montenegrin society, which is politically divided. It also raised questions about the readiness of state institutions to tackle the problems, including gun ownership.

Police have said the shooting was impossible to predict and prevent, though the gunman, identified as Aco Martinović, had been convicted for violent behavior and illegal weapons possession. His victims were mostly friends and family.

Montenegrin authorities swiftly announced a new, strict gun law and other tough measures to curb illegal weapons, which are abundant in the Balkan nation of around 620,000 people.

On Sunday, police said they raided several locations in the country and confiscated about 20 weapons, more than 500 rounds of ammunition, and explosives.

Protesters in Cetinje and Podgorica also demanded a “demilitarization” of the population through the destruction of illegal weapons, high taxes on gun ownership, and a moratorium on new licenses while existing ones are reconsidered under strict criteria.

The attacker in 2022 in Cetinje gunned down 10 people, including two children, before he was shot and killed by a passerby.

Maja Gardašević, a protest organizer, said during the rally in Cetinje that “we came here looking for answers” to several questions.

“Why did a massacre happen in Cetinje for the second time?” Gardašević asked. “ Why is no one responsible? Why is it so hard to resign?”