The death toll in last week's mass shooting in Montenegro rises to 13

People look at photos of relatives after the commemoration ceremony... — People look at photos of relatives after the commemoration ceremony in honor of the victims of the shooting attack, in a second such tragedy in less than three years in the small Balkan country, in Cetinje, some 30 km west of Podgorica, Montenegro in Cetinje, 36 kilometers (22 miles) west of Podogrica, Montenegro, Saturday, Jan 4, 2025. Credit: AP/Risto Bozovic

By The Associated PressJanuary 9, 2025 10:49 am

PODGORICA, Montenegro — A man who was wounded in a mass shooting on New Year's Day in Montenegro died on Thursday, bringing the death toll to 13.

The Jan. 1 shooting took place in the western town of Cetinje after a bar brawl. A 45-year-old local man killed 12 people in several locations before killing himself. The victims included two children. Four people were wounded, including Dejan Kokotovic, born in 1985, who died on Thursday.

The rampage was the second such mass shooting in less than three years in Cetinje. In August 2022, a man killed 10 people before a passerby gunned him down.

The shootings have fueled concerns about the level of violence in Montenegrin society, which is politically divided.

The Montenegrin government has pledged to adopt measures to curb the widespread illegal possession of weapons in the Balkan country of some 620,000 people.

The Adriatic Sea nation has a deeply-rooted gun culture. State television broadcaster RTCG reported that Montenegro is sixth in the world when it comes to the number of illegal weapons per capita.

Several thousand people have rallied to demand resignations of top security officials over the mass shootings. They have accused the authorities of doing nothing to boost security in between the two shootings in Cetinje.