Radovljica: Man, 21, shoots police officer, steals gun

Slovenian police carried out a large manhunt on Friday, September 11, after an attack on a police officer near the Smartno exit on the Gorenjska highway, the motorway that connects Ljubljana to Austria via the Karavanke tunnel and that some travelers from this region use on their way to Western Europe. A 21 year old Slovenian citizen stole a police officer’s service pistol, shot him with it, and fled in a stolen patrol car before he was arrested in Radovljica.

According to Slovenian police, the incident began shortly before 9 a.m., when the suspect caused a traffic accident on the Ljubljana ring road. After the crash, he headed toward Kranj, where traffic police stopped him on the Gorenjska highway at the Smartno exit. During the stop, police say, the young man grabbed the officer’s service pistol and shot him with it.

The officer received first aid at the scene before being taken to a medical facility. Police say his condition is stable and that his life is not in danger. No one else was injured in the incident. After the shooting, the attacker got into the stolen police vehicle and continued fleeing toward the Gorenjska region.

Police immediately launched a large manhunt. The suspect was located near Lesce, and the operation continued until he was tracked down and arrested in Radovljica, where he was held for questioning. After the arrest, police officially declared the danger over and informed the town’s schools and institutions that they could resume normal operations. Investigators continued searching the area around the highway, with the help of police dog handlers, for evidence. Police have not yet disclosed a motive for the attack.

Why were schools in Radovljica temporarily closed?

While the manhunt was underway, Radovljica closed its elementary school and kindergarten, two high schools, the local health center, the administrative unit, and some shops as a precaution. The stretch of the Gorenjska highway toward Jesenice was closed to traffic for the duration. Radovljica Elementary School later said that students stayed in their classrooms during the manhunt and that classes continued on the regular schedule, noting that the danger was not inside the school itself but in its immediate vicinity.

The manhunt and the temporary closure of the highway section also caused traffic chaos across the wider area. Tailbacks stretching several kilometers formed on Ljubljana’s ring roads, as well as on the roads to Medvode, Trzin, and Bled, a tourist destination that still sees significant traffic from foreign and domestic visitors at this time of year.

Slovenian police have not yet said whether criminal charges have been filed against the young man, or what motive led him to attack an officer during a routine traffic stop. It also remains unclear whether the stolen service weapon was recovered after the arrest, or whether the suspect had previous contact with police. The investigation into the exact circumstances of the incident, including how the gun was seized from the officer during the stop in the first place, is still ongoing.

The incident took place on a stretch of road that Slovenian police normally monitor closely because of heavy transit traffic, since the Gorenjska highway links Ljubljana to the Karavanke border crossing and, beyond it, to Austria. Radovljica itself, the town where the manhunt ended, sits just a few kilometers from that route and from the tourist town of Bled, so Friday’s closures disrupted not only traffic but also daily life in the town.