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DARUVAR, Croatia (AP) — An armed assailant entered a care home for older people in a quiet central Croatian town Monday and opened fire, killing six people and wounding six others, police said. Croatia’s prime minister said the victims were mostly in their 90s.
Croatia's police chief, Nikola Milina, said five people died immediately while one more person died in a hospital. The suspect fled the scene, but the police caught him in a cafe near the facility in the town of Daruvar, he said.
The victims were five residents of the care home and one employee, Milina said.
The suspect is “under police supervision,” said a statement by the regional police office. Authorities are investigating the motive behind the attack.
N1 regional television reported that the shooter was born in 1973 and that he was a former policeman who took part in the 1991-95 war in Croatia. Officials said that one of those killed was his mother, who had lived in the care home for the past 10 years.
Daruvar resident Zlatko Sutuga told Nova TV that he knows the assailant “from the war times.”
“People say that he was really aggressive, alcohol and all that,” Sutuga said. "His mom was inside, he allegedly came to kill her. ”
The attack has left the town stunned and grieving. Daruvar is a spa town in the municipality of Slavonia, with a population of 8,500.
Relatives of the residents gathered outside the modest one-story house to inquire about their loved ones.
“We have my mom here, she is 90," Nina Samot told Nova TV. "This is horrific what has happened, this is such a small town. Especially when you have someone inside. ... We are waiting, we are all in shock. The whole town is in shock.”
The mayor of Daruvar, Damir Lnenicek, told N1 TV that everyone was stunned.
“What is the cause, the trigger, it is difficult to say. That will be determined by the investigation,” said Lnenicek, adding that the tragedy happened in a private home where about 20 people are housed. He said that it is an excellent home.
Croatian President Zoran Milanovic said he was “shocked” by the "savage, unprecedented crime.”
“It is a frightening warning and a last call to all competent institutions to do more to prevent violence in society, including even more rigorous control of gun ownership,” he said.
Police officials said that the assailant used an unregistered gun. There are many weapons kept in private homes in Croatia after the bloody breakup of Yugoslavia in the 1990s.
Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic said he was “horrified and dismayed.”
“We need to see how this could have happened,” Plenkovic said.
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Associated Press writers Dusan Stojanovic and Jovana Gec contributed to this story.