Thousands of Montenegrins gathered in the town of Cetinje on Sunday to remember the 12 victims last week, accusing the police of not doing enough to stop the gun violence.
In a crime spree that shocked the small Balkan nation, 45-year-old Aco Martinovic went on an hours-long shooting spree on Wednesday. When he was finally tracked down by the police, he shot himself with a gun, and later died of his injuries.
People lit candles on Sunday in front of the Cetinje church near where the shooting started and stood in silence for twelve minutes to honor the victims.
“We came here to demand answers as to why there was no response in time and who will take responsibility for that,” Maja Gardasevic told Reuters.
Many Montenegrins are angry at what they see as slow reforms, an underpowered and under-resourced police force and political infighting in the government.
It was the second mass shooting in less than three years in Cetinje, which is about 38 kilometers (24 miles) west of the capital, Podgorica. In August 2022, a gunman killed 10 people, including two children, before they were shot.
“This is my protest against the disorganization of the police.
In the capital on Friday, protesters demanded the resignation of senior officials, including Interior Minister Danilo Saranovic and the police chief.
Montenegro, a small Adriatic republic of 633,000 people, has a deep-rooted gun culture.
Like other Western Balkan countries – Serbia, Bosnia, Albania, Kosovo and North Macedonia – Montenegro is full of illegal weapons, mostly from the bloody wars of the 1990s.