A gunman opened fire in a nursing home in Croatia on Monday, killing at least five people, state media reported, marking a rare instance of gun violence in the Balkan country.
State broadcaster HRT reported that an unidentified gunman entered a nursing home in Daruvar, approximately 130 kilometers (80 miles) east of Zagreb, and opened fire. The shooting resulted in at least five deaths and several injuries, according to HRT.
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The police was informed around 10am about the incident. The alleged gunman fled the scene, but was later apprehended by police in a cafe in downtown Daruvar.
“The person suspected for the crime has been apprehended,” the Bjelovar-Bilogora County Police said in a statement.
Croatian President Zoran Milanović denounced the incident as a “barbaric, unprecedented crime.”
“This is a horrifying wake-up call for all relevant institutions to enhance efforts in preventing societal violence, including stricter control over gun ownership,” Milanović posted on Facebook.
“We are deeply saddened by the murder of five people at the Home for the Elderly in Daruvar,” Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenković wrote on X. “We offer our condolences to the victims’ families and wish a speedy recovery to the injured.”
Croatian newspaper Jutarnji list identified the alleged shooter as a “war veteran” who killed his mother along with other residents and staff.
Plenković is set to make a public address at 2 pm CET, while Deputy PM Davor Božinović is said to be on his way to Daruvar together with health and labour ministers.
Croatia, which fought a war of independence during the breakup of Yugoslavia from 1991 to 1995, rarely experiences shootings.
In contrast, neighboring Serbia was rocked by back-to-back mass shootings last year, including a school massacre in Belgrade that resulted in 10 deaths.
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