State broadcaster HRT reported that the unidentified gunman entered a nursing home in Daruvar, located about 130 kilometers east of Zagreb, and began shooting.
Several others were injured in the attack and are receiving medical treatment, HRT said.
The suspect, born in 1973 according to local reports, fled the scene but was later apprehended by police near a café in Daruvar.
Croatian newspaper Jutarnji described the suspect as a “war veteran” who killed his mother along with other residents and staff. Regional television N1 reported that the gunman was a former combatant from the Croatian War of Independence (1991-1995).
The police issued a statement following the shooting: ‘Today, July 22, at 10:10am, the Bjelovar-Bilogor police department received a report that a male person using a firearm killed and wounded several people in a home for the elderly and infirm. The person who is linked to the crime is under the supervision of the police. An investigation will follow at the scene of the incident, led by the deputy of the county state attorney’s office in Bjelovar.
It also assured that the suspect is now ‘under police supervision’. Shocked witnesses spoke to local media of the horrors they saw.
One told 24Sata: ‘Look, I don’t know what exactly happened. It’s at a crossroads with me, it’s mostly women in the home. 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 that it was some kind of construction work – the neighbor told us, adding that these “shots” were heard at intervals of one to two minutes. The street is now full of police vehicles and ambulances’.
Another witness chillingly revealed the killer had gone to a nearby cafe before saying: ‘Now I killed them all.
Daruvar is a spa town and municipality in Slavonia, with a population of 8,500 people and authorities are now investigating the motive behind the attack.
The city announced the tragedy this morning in a statement to its official Facebook page.
It read: ‘We are shocked and in disbelief regarding this tragic event in the nursing home in Daruvar. We express our sincere condolences to the families of the deceased. We are shocked by this unfortunate event.
