Gunman kills 8 in Slovak capital

A late morning shooting spree in Bratislava Aug. 30 ended with eight dead, including six Roma and the gunman, but authorities are hesitant to call the incident racial discrimination. 

"So far, we don't know the motive. ? So I will not speculate whether it did or did not have [a] racial motive," Slovak Interior Minister Daniel Lipšic told reporters. "I doubt it, but the investigation is ongoing."

The dead were thought to include six members of a single Roma family, according to Lipšic.

Fifteen people, including a policeman and a child, were injured in the rampage on a street in the Devínská Nová Ves neighborhood, on the Slovak capital's northwest side, Lipšic said at a press conference.

The Slovak News Agency (TASR) identified the man as a 48-year-old former soldier who resided in the district. He reportedly carried a Czechoslovak submachine gun type 58 and two handguns. TASR reported that he possessed all the weapons legally, citing a police report.

"One thing we will make of this is that no one will be allowed to carry an automatic weapon," Lipšic said. "Not even for sport or collecting."

The violence began shortly after 10 a.m. Aug. 30. Police found five members of a single family dead in their apartment in a panel housing block. A sixth victim found in the doorway was "probably" from the same family, Lipšic said. A body of another 52-year-old woman was found later on an adjacent balcony, and police say the shooter likely turned on her as she witnessed the initial killings.

"He'd always been very hostile to colored people and hated us," a young Roma woman who identified herself as a granddaughter of one of the victims told Sme. "He picked on us all the time."

A 45-year-old woman who lived in the same building said the shooter and the Roma family had a history of disagreements. The gunman lived in an apartment just above the family. 

"They didn't get along well with each other," the woman told Sme. "He was kind of strange and lived alone."

Police arrived at the scene as the attacker was leaving the apartment building and moving onto the street, where he shot at anyone who appeared. A shootout with police followed. Once the gunman was surrounded, police shot him in the chest and then he turned one of the pistols on himself.

All told, five women and three men, including the shooter, were killed. Of the 15 injured people, three were in serious condition, and nine were in stable condition, as of press time. A policeman who suffered a head injury was immediately operated on and remains in critical condition. Also in critical condition is one Czech citizen, a spokeswoman for University Hospital Bratislava said.

A 3-year-old boy suffered an ear injury while a passenger in a nearby car and was released after treatment, said a spokesman for Bratislava Children's Hospital.

The shootings marked the second bloodiest day in the history of the independent Slovakia. In March 1999, 10 people were gunned down in mafia-related shooting at the Fontána Restaurant in Dunajská Streda.

Bratislava residents have set up an informal candlelight memorial near the site of the shootings. At press time, the Slovak government was in a special meeting discussing whether to declare an official day of mourning.

There are an estimated 380,000 Roma living in Slovakia, and several incidents have occurred in recent years.

In March 2009 in Košice, police detained Roma boys under suspicion of robbing an old woman. The police forced the boys to undress and kiss each other, while recording the scenes on their mobile phones. Nine policemen were fired over the episode.

In May 2007 in Záhorská Ves, masked assailants stormed the home of Roma family in the middle of the night and beat them with steel rods and wooden clubs. No one was arrested in the incident. 

Both Slovakia and the Czech Republic are known for relatively liberal gun ownership laws by European standards. In the Czech Republic, with a population just over 10 million people, there are 314,363 registered gun holders, owning a total of 691,272 guns.

While gun ownership levels are high, gun violence remain relatively uncommon. In 2009, there were 127 murders nationwide, 20 of which occurred with a gun. Of 2,687 violent crimes committed last year, 810 involved firearms, according to police statistics.

"The situation that happened in Slovakia can happen everywhere in the world really," said Jan Melša, spokesman for the Czech Police Presidium. "Considering that the gun laws in the Czech Republic and Slovakia are quite similar, it can happen here, but of course that is nothing more than speculation. If someone goes suddenly mad, it is hard to prevent such a situation." 

- Filip Šenk contributed to this report.

Benjamin Cunningham can be reached at
bcunningham@praguepost.com