Belgrade Cafe Killing: Man Tied to Skaljari Clan Shot Dead
A 46-year-old man linked to the Skaljari clan was killed in a cafe in Belgrade's Vozdovac district, a second man critically wounded, the gunman on the run as police launch operation Vihor 3.
- A man aged 46 was shot dead in a cafe in Belgrade's Vozdovac district on June 22 at around 3:40 p.m.
- A second man was critically wounded and rushed to the Military Medical Academy.
- The gunman fired several shots and fled, prompting police to launch a manhunt code-named Vihor 3.
- An appeals court had overturned the victim's 15-year sentence for an earlier killing just two months ago.
The shooting took place on Monday, June 22, at around 3:40 p.m., inside a cafe on Peke Dapcevica Boulevard in the Kumodraz area of Belgrade’s Vozdovac district. According to initial police accounts, the attacker entered the premises, fired several shots at two men, and then fled the scene. One man, aged 46, died of his injuries. The other was critically wounded and rushed to the Military Medical Academy, where doctors are fighting to save his life.
A search for the gunman is underway. Soon after the alert, police sealed off a wider part of the neighborhood and launched a manhunt under the name Vihor 3. Officers from several units were deployed at exit routes, and vehicles were stopped and searched. The street outside the cafe remained cordoned off for hours while the on-site investigation continued late into the night.
The man who was killed, identified by the initials D. V., was publicly known by the nickname Prika. According to police operational data, he had been linked to the so-called Skaljari clan, one of two warring criminal groups whose feuds have left a trail across the region for years. Those ties have not been established by a final court ruling or confirmed in any official prosecution statement.
Why does this killing stand out?
What sets this case apart is the victim’s own court history. He had previously been sentenced to 15 years in prison for the 2018 killing of Blaz Djurovic. The Belgrade Court of Appeal overturned that verdict just two months ago and ordered a retrial. In effect, a man who until recently carried the weight of a first-instance conviction for a killing in Vozdovac has himself become a victim of a violent death, on the same ground.
The timeline is therefore clear: the 2018 event led to a 15-year sentence, the appeal struck down that verdict this spring, and only a few weeks later the name resurfaces, this time in the crime columns. The legal status of the earlier case remains open, since the retrial has neither been scheduled nor concluded.
Police have not yet disclosed a motive or the identity of the attacker. Every version, from a settling of scores within the criminal underworld to a personal vendetta, remains within the scope of the investigation. Following standard procedure, prosecutors will order an autopsy and forensic analysis of evidence from the scene before any conclusion is drawn.
What lies ahead for the investigation?
In the coming days, the key question is whether police will manage to locate the attacker and determine whether a lone individual or an organized group is behind the shooting. Operation Vihor 3, like similar manhunts before it, involves stepped-up checks, searches, and a review of cameras in the wider area. Such work usually yields results only once footage, ballistic findings, and witness statements are compared.
There is also the question of safety in the parts of Belgrade where such clashes keep recurring. A daytime shooting in a cafe full of patrons shows that the perpetrators choose neither time nor place. It is not yet known whether any children or passers-by were among those present.
How long will police need to shed light on who is behind this killing, and will the retrial for the old case even take place?
