Altina Shooting: Guzijan (39) Suspected of Wounding Man
A man (46) from Bosnia and Herzegovina was wounded in a shooting in Altina, Zemun, and operated on at Zemun Clinical Hospital Center. Suspect Guzijan (39) called police, claims shot was accidental.
The shooting happened in Belgrade’s Altina neighborhood, in Zemun, according to Kurir and Espreso, on Saturday, September 12, around 5:30 PM. B92, in a report published this morning at 8:39 AM, only said it happened “last night,” without giving an exact time. Other outlets do not disagree on when the shooting took place, they simply differ in how precisely they say it.
The man wounded, Branko B. (46), is a citizen of Bosnia and Herzegovina. He suffered a gunshot wound to the chest and was rushed to Zemun Clinical Hospital Center (KBC Zemun). He was operated on and, according to every available source, is now in stable condition. Reports say the surgical team’s quick response was key to how the operation turned out.
What Is Known About the Shooting Itself?
According to unofficial information, the suspect is Petar Guzijan (39), known locally as “Mali Cuner.” Media reports say he called police himself, by phone, after the shooting. He told them he knows the wounded man and that the shot was fired by accident.
Guzijan, however, did not stay at the scene and has not turned himself in. As of the latest available information, the search for him is still underway, despite the fact that he contacted police on his own.
Espreso reports that the shooting took place just a few meters from the Guzijan family home. A worker at a nearby shop said she suspects the man was not wounded on the street, but indoors. Police sealed off that part of Zemun and carried out an on scene investigation.
Neighbors Heard Sirens, Not Gunshots
Several neighbors in Altina said they heard neither an argument nor gunshots, only police sirens breaking up a quiet Saturday afternoon.
We were sitting in the yard and suddenly saw several police jeeps racing down the street. We were really taken aback, we thought something terrible had happened, but somewhere on the other end of Altina, since nothing at all could be heard from here. Later we heard there had practically been a shooting right in front of our house. I find it unbelievable that neither I nor my husband heard an argument, a shooting, nothing at all.
That is how one Altina neighbor described it to Kurir. Another neighbor, speaking to the same outlet, described the suspect himself, whom people in the area have known for years.
Petar lives here with his family, but we haven’t seen him in almost a month. He used to have a cafe and a laundromat here, but that hasn’t been running for years. He would sometimes come by a nearby cafe, but we haven’t seen him in a while now.
Who Is Petar Guzijan?
Petar Guzijan is already known to police. The Higher Court in Belgrade sentenced him in 2020 to two and a half years in prison for illegal possession of a firearm.
In January 2019, he was arrested on suspicion that in August 2018 he had fired shots from a moving car at Dragan Miladinovic Gagec, a former member of the Zemun clan. He was acquitted of those charges at trial.
His father, Jovan Guzijan “Cuner,” was considered one of the leaders of the Zemun underworld in the 1990s. He was killed in October 2002, and members of the Zemun clan were convicted of that murder.
An official statement on the Altina shooting from the Interior Ministry (MUP) had not been released as of this morning. All information about the investigation so far, including the suspect’s identity, comes exclusively from unofficial sources, and police continue to search for Guzijan. Until he is found and questioned, the circumstances of the shooting, including the claim that the shot was fired accidentally, remain unconfirmed.
