‘War veteran’ kills his mother, then opens fire on other elderly residents and staff before being arrested in Croatia

A “war veteran” killed his mother before opening fire on elderly residents and staff at a nursing home in Croatia.

State media reported that the gunman killed at least five people in a rare incident of gun violence in the Balkan state.

State broadcaster HRT reported that an unidentified gunman entered a nursing home in Daruvar, about 130 kilometers east of the country’s capital Zagreb, and then opened fire.

Several other people were injured in the shooting and are now receiving medical treatment, HRT added.

The alleged suspect, who was born in 1973 according to local reports, initially fled the scene before being later caught and arrested by police near the Daruvar cafe.

The Croatian newspaper Jutarnji described the suspected shooter as a “war veteran” who killed his mother as well as other residents and staff.

Regional television station N1 reported that the shooter was a former fighter from the Croatian war of 1991-1995.

Police quickly issued a statement after the shooting: “Today, July 22, at 10:10 a.m., the Bjelovar-Bilogor Police Department received a report that a man with a firearm killed and injured several people in a nursing home.”

“The person connected with the crime is under police supervision.”

“An investigation will follow at the scene of the incident under the leadership of the Deputy District Prosecutor’s Office in Bjelovar.”

It was also assured that the suspect was now “under police supervision”.

An employee of a shop in Daruvar told local media how two employees of the nursing home ran into his shop, one with a bullet in his chest, one with an eye injury, desperately seeking help.

“I also called the police and told them where the murderer was. He supposedly sat down, ordered a drink and put the gun on the table,” a store employee told Dnevnik.hr.

Other shocked witnesses spoke to local media about the horrors they had seen.

One told 24Sata: “Look, I don’t know what exactly happened. For me, it’s a crossroads, it’s mainly about women in the household.”

“I was there at that moment, I was walking down the street, I was 80 meters away and I heard the shots.”

“At first I thought it was construction work,” the neighbor told us, adding that these “shots” were heard every one to two minutes. The street is now full of police vehicles and ambulances.”

Another witness chillingly stated that the killer went into the nearby cafe before saying: “Now I have killed them all.”

Daruvar is a spa town and municipality in Slavonia with 8,500 inhabitants. Authorities are currently investigating the motive of the attack.

The city announced the unprecedented tragedy this morning in a statement on its official Facebook page.

It says: “We are shocked and cannot believe this tragic incident in the nursing home in Daruvar.”

“We express our sincere condolences to the families of the deceased. We are shocked by this unfortunate event.”

“The attacker has been caught. The investigation is ongoing.”

Prime Minister Andrej Plenković said he was “horrified” when he heard about the shooting.

On X he wrote: “We are appalled by the murder of five people in the nursing home in Daruvar.”

“We express our condolences to the families of the victims and hope for the recovery of the injured. I expect the responsible authorities to clarify all the circumstances of this terrible crime.”

“Ministers Božinović, Beroš and Piletić will go to Daruvar and the hospital in Pakrac.”

Croatia fought a war of independence from 1991 to 1995 during the breakup of Yugoslavia, but today shootings are rare in the Balkan state.

Last year, neighboring Serbia was rocked by a series of consecutive mass shootings, including a massacre at a school in the capital Belgrade that left 10 people dead.

This is a breaking news story. More to follow.