Authorities in Kosovo have taken a man into custody on suspicion of killing two people and wounding another, and seized weapons during raids on his home hours after the incident that sparked outrage in the country on Friday.
The suspect, 38 years old, is suspected of killing his 27-year-old wife, his wife's brother, 31 years old, and seriously injuring his wife's uncle's son, 48 years old, according to the Basic Prosecution Office in Gjilan and the Kosovo Police.
While the motives for the double murder remain unknown, law enforcement authorities said they found additional weapons at the home of the suspect, who they say has no criminal record. Police said they responded to a call about gunshots in the village of Livoç i Ulët, Gjilan, at around 2:25 p.m. on Friday, and when they arrived at the scene, they found the 31-year-old man, identified only as EB, unresponsive inside a vehicle.
Meanwhile, the 27-year-old woman, with the initials NB, was brought without signs of life to the General Hospital in Gjilan, after injuries suffered from gunshot wounds by the same suspect.
The injured man, identified as MB, is being treated at the University Clinical Center of Kosovo (UCK), the prosecution in Gjilan said on Friday shortly before midnight.
Police announced on Friday that the suspect, identified as VR, surrendered to authorities.
He has been taken into custody as authorities continue their investigation into two criminal offenses he is suspected of: aggravated murder and illegal possession of a weapon.
Police said that at two crime scenes they seized four cartridges, 21 shells and five shells, and inside the suspect's car they seized a revolver, with which the murder was allegedly committed.
The revolver had an expired license, according to Police.
During a raid on the suspect's homes and properties, two long guns with expired licenses, an unlicensed revolver, an air gun, 520 cartridges of various calibers, and 1,600 air rifle cartridges were found and seized, the release states.
"Several mobile phones and camera DVRs were also seized as material evidence," the Police stressed.
Meanwhile, the Basic Prosecution Office in Gjilan said that the revolver with which the defendant is suspected of committing the murders is a "Bereta" type, and had an expired permit.
The prosecution said the suspect has no criminal record and there have been no reported cases of domestic violence.
Kosovo President Justina Shiroka Pula said she received the news "with deep pain" and expressed "my deepest condolences to the families of the victims and a speedy recovery to the injured."
"No circumstance can justify the taking of a human life. No one has the right to expose women to danger, violence or suffering," said Shiroka Pula, according to a statement from the Kosovo Presidency.
She called on the justice authorities to investigate this case "with full dedication, to clarify all the circumstances and to bring the perpetrators to justice."
This murder comes less than a month after a man was arrested for killing his sister and injuring his mother in September in Prizren.
Meanwhile, in August, two women were murdered: a pregnant 25-year-old and an 80-year-old. The victims' husbands - one aged 26 and the other 81 - are suspected of both murders.
The Speaker of the Assembly of Kosovo, Albulena Haxhiu, said she feels "shocked by the news of the murder of a woman and a man, as well as the injury of another person."
"Two lives lost violently and families that are facing great pain today," Haxhiu wrote on Facebook.
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Justice, Donika Gërvalla, said that Friday was a "horrible day."
"Another woman was killed by her husband. Another family was struck by an irreparable tragedy," she said, the Ministry of Justice announced.
Gërvalla emphasized that preventing violence and protecting women's lives require continuous action and responsibility, not just reacting after tragedies.
"Femicide is a crime so serious and horrific that no society can treat as inevitable what it has an obligation to prevent," she said.
Overall, this is the sixth woman to be murdered this year. Since 2010 and until August of this year, according to Kosovo Police data, 64 women have been murdered in Kosovo. Human rights organizations have, in some cases, blamed the authorities for failing to protect women at risk of violence./REL
