A gunman has entered a private nursing home in northwestern Croatia and shot dead five people, including his mother, and injured six others, a government minister says.
One of the people wounded on Monday later died in hospital, taking the death toll to six, while four remained in critical condition, Marin Piletic, minister for labour, the pension system, families and social policy, told reporters.
One of the victims was a nursing home employee, the minister said.
“According to the information we have, the mother of the killer had been in the nursing home for 10 years,” Piletic said.
Authorities have given no motive for the attack.
Croatian media reported that the gunman, born in 1973, is a war veteran. The suspect fled the scene, but the police soon caught him in a cafe near the care home in Daruvar, a spa town in the municipality of Slavonia with a population of 8,500.
Police said they were informed of the incident at 10:10am (08:10 GMT) and confirmed the suspect had entered the nursing home and used a firearm.
The suspect is “under police supervision”, according to a statement by the regional police office.
Police said the assailant used an unregistered gun. There are many weapons kept in private homes in Croatia after the breakup of Yugoslavia in the 1990s and the wars that followed.
The attack has left the quiet town stunned and grieving. The mayor of Daruvar, Damir Lnenicek, told N1 that everyone was in shock.
