Banovo Brdo Shooting: Suspect Silent, Detention Sought
The man suspected of shooting a resident in Pozeska Street, Banovo Brdo, offered no defense before Belgrade's Higher Public Prosecutor's Office, which has requested his detention.
Suspect N.J. (born in 1998, reported by media to be either 27 or 28) was questioned on September 18 at the Higher Public Prosecutor’s Office in Belgrade, on suspicion that he tried to kill a 41 year old man in a building in Banovo Brdo. He offered no defense, choosing to stay silent instead. The prosecution has asked the investigating judge at the Higher Court in Belgrade to order his detention.
The suspect was arrested a day earlier. The Interior Ministry (MUP) announced on September 17 that, acting on the prosecutor’s order, he was brought in by officers from the Cukarica Police Station on suspicion of attempted murder and illegal production, possession, carrying and trafficking of weapons and explosive materials.
According to the prosecution, the attack took place on September 16, in a building on Pozeska Street (reported by some outlets as number 31) in Banovo Brdo. Sources differ on the exact time: the prosecution cites around 2:30 a.m., while some media outlets’ first reports that morning put it at around 3 a.m.
The prosecutor’s account states that the suspect drove to the building that morning in a Ford Fiesta. Outside the entrance, he approached a witness identified by the initials D. Dj., showed him a handgun tucked in his waistband and forced him to lead him to the victim’s apartment on the sixth floor. The two rode the elevator up to the apartment door, where the victim was waiting. After a brief argument, the suspect fired from close range. Some media, citing the prosecution, report that the bullet hit the victim in the stomach and right thigh, while the Interior Ministry’s statement refers only broadly to serious bodily injury. After the shooting, the attacker rode the elevator back down, got into the car and drove away from the scene.
The official statement makes no mention of a mask or of building security. According to unofficial reports in some media, the attacker was masked and wearing dark clothing, and the building had security on duty that night, which he bypassed because another person met him at the entrance and led him inside. Neither the prosecution nor the Interior Ministry has confirmed these details.
Sources also differ on where the gun was found. The Interior Ministry’s statement says the weapon was recovered in a search of the apartment where the suspect had been staying without being registered there. Some media, citing the prosecution, report that a semi-automatic Zastava pistol, with one round in the magazine, was found in a bucket in the bathroom of a business premises in New Belgrade, during a search carried out under a warrant from the Higher Court in Belgrade. According to media reports, the vehicle the suspect allegedly used to reach the building was also recovered.
The wounded man, identified in official statements by the initials D.K. (in one statement, reversed as K.D.), is 41 years old. He was treated at a hospital and, according to the latest available information, is out of danger. Unofficial reports in some media say he was previously known to police, though the prosecution has not officially confirmed this.
The newsroom reported on the Banovo Brdo shooting immediately after it happened, while police were carrying out an operation code named “Vihor.” The suspect’s arrest followed a little more than 24 hours later, announced by the Interior Ministry on September 17, and the prosecutor’s questioning took place the next day, one day after the arrest.
The prosecution requested detention citing the risk that, if left free, the suspect could influence witnesses or repeat the offense within a short period. The decision on detention rests with the investigating judge at the Higher Court in Belgrade.
Under the law, the suspect is presumed innocent until a final verdict is reached.
