Zrenjanin: Man Born in 2005 Arrested, Seven Officers Hurt

Police in Zrenjanin arrested M. J. (born 2005) on suspicion of attacking three people, then damaging four vehicles with a car during a police chase and lightly injuring seven police officers. The arrest was made on the order of the chief public prosecutor of the Basic Public Prosecutor’s Office in Zrenjanin, the Interior Ministry (MUP) said on October 10, 2026.

What is the suspect in Zrenjanin charged with?

According to the statement, M. J. is suspected of:

• violent behavior,
• abuse and torture, two counts,
• causing general danger,
• obstructing an official in the performance of duty,
• attacking an official in the performance of duty.

These are grounds for suspicion, not an established finding of guilt.

What led up to the arrest?

The ministry describes three attacks but gives a time for only two. The first, in order, was an incident on the road between Zrenjanin and Lazarevo. There, over a traffic dispute, the suspect allegedly physically attacked a 70-year-old man, causing minor injuries and smashing his phone. The statement does not give a date for that attack.

On the evening of October 8, on a boulevard in Zrenjanin, he allegedly stabbed a 22-year-old man with a knife, causing minor injuries, and fled the scene. On October 9, in a shopping center, he allegedly attacked another 22-year-old, again causing minor injuries.

A chase followed. While driving, the suspect damaged one private car and three police vehicles and lightly injured seven officers.

Where do the statement and the media reports differ?

The boulevard attack was also covered by the portal Novosti. Its Zrenjanin correspondent reported unofficially on the evening of October 8 that a man had been pulled from a BMW shortly after 7 p.m., stabbed several times with a sharp object and taken to the emergency center of the Zrenjanin hospital. The next day Novosti reported that the suspect was arrested at around 3 p.m., not far from the scene of the attack.

The accounts do not fully match. MUP classes the young man’s injuries as minor, while Novosti writes of multiple stab wounds and says the extent of the injuries was not disclosed. MUP mentions neither a BMW nor the injured man’s initials, so the link between the two sources rests on a match of city, boulevard, knife and date. Novosti unofficially cites unsettled scores between the attacker and the injured man as a motive, while MUP gives no motive.

What happens next?

The suspect has been ordered held for up to 48 hours. After that, together with a criminal complaint, he will be brought before the Basic Public Prosecutor’s Office in Zrenjanin, which decides on further proceedings.