Slovak Police Consider Neighboring Dispute for Shooting

The 48-year-old gunman has been described by neighbors as a weird loner who never greeted anybody. Photo by EPA/BGNES

Neighboring disputes might have been the motive for the shooting in Slovakia's capital Bratislava on Monday, when a gunman opened fire, killing 7 and injuring 15 people.

The Slovak news agency TASR has reported that the gunman, who was 48 years old, died from a gunshot to his head.

According to local news agencies, the man was living on the same floor with five of the killed, who were members of a Roma family – four women and a man. The sixth killed person has nor been identified yet but was “probably” a member of the same family.

The seventh victim was a woman who came out on the balcony of her apartment when she heard the gunshots.

Another 15 people were wounded, including a 3-year-old boy, who was shot while traveling in a car that was hit by bullets, according to the police.

The shooting took place Monday in the Devinska Nova Ves neighborhood, a suburb northwest of the city. The neighbors have described the Roma family as loud and problematic, and the man – as a weird loner, who never greeted anybody.

“So far we don't know the motive... so I will not speculate whether it did or did not have a racial motive,” said Slovakia's Interior Minister Dusan Lipsic, as cited by the Guardian.