Serbia shooting: 5 dead, 22 injured after man opens fire in cafe

Five people were killed and another 22 were wounded early on Saturday when a man entered a cafe in northern Serbia and opened fire with an assault rifle, police said.

Police arrested the suspect, a man in his late 30s identified only as ZS, immediately after the shooting during a local festival in the village of Zitiste, around 80 kilometers north of Belgrade.

Nebojsa Stefanovic, the interior minister, told Belgrade's B92 TV that ZS killed his estranged wife and a another woman, before firing at others in the cafe with an assault rifle he illegally owned.

"Jealousy could be a motive," he said. "He was a quiet man; he had no criminal record."

Gordana Kozlovacki, the director of the hospital in the nearby town of Zrenjanin, said 22 people were treated after the shooting. Seven remained in a serious condition.

Serbia and most of the western Balkans are awash with hundreds of thousands of illegal weapons following wars and unrest in the 1990s.

In a bid to reduce the number, Serbian police on Friday offered an amnesty over surrendering or registering illegal weapons until November.

Saturday's killings follow a number of mass shootings in Serbia in recent years.

Three years ago, 13 people died in a shooting spree in a village near Belgrade, and last year six people were killed in a dispute over a wedding in Serbia's north.

related articles
Serbia and Croatia at odds over migrant crisis as tensions rise
Serbia and Croatia at odds over migrant crisis as tensions rise

Serbia and Croatia at odds over migrant crisis as tensions rise

Unwanted: The Syrian refugees in Serbia wondering what they\'ve done wrong
Unwanted: The Syrian refugees in Serbia wondering what they've done wrong

Unwanted: The Syrian refugees in Serbia wondering what they've done wrong

News
Sudan authorities use bureaucracy to stop church rebuilding and worship
Sudan authorities use bureaucracy to stop church rebuilding and worship

Authorities in Sudan are obstructing efforts by a church to rebuild and even to use their place of worship

Ramadan ‘offers a unique opportunity’ to share the Gospel, says missiologist
Ramadan ‘offers a unique opportunity’ to share the Gospel, says missiologist

Dr Emil Saleem Shehadeh has some sage advice for how Christians can engage with their Muslim neighbours and colleagues during Ramadan.

David Tudor hit with another lifetime ministry ban
David Tudor hit with another lifetime ministry ban

Having already been banned, the latest sanction merely reinforces an earlier decision.

Armenia’s Christian civilization is under existential threat - the UK must not stand idly by
Armenia’s Christian civilization is under existential threat - the UK must not stand idly by

The constellation of powers that produced the eradication of the Armenian Christian presence in Nagorno Karabakh now have their sights on the Republic of Armenia itself.