Sanski Most school shooting

Sanski Most school shooting
Map of Sanski Most
Location	Sanski Most Gymasium, Sanski Most, Una-Sana Canton, Bosnia and Herzegovina
Coordinates	44°46′4″N16°39′27″E / 44.76778°N 16.65750°E / 44.76778; 16.65750
Date	21 August 2024;14 months ago (2024-08-21) c. 10:15
Attack type	School shooting, mass shooting
Weapon	Automatic rifle
Deaths	3
Injured	1 (the suspect)
Accused	Mehemed Vukalić

On 21 August 2024, a school shooting occurred inside the Sanski Most Gymnasium, ^[1] located in Sanski Most, Bosnia and Herzegovina. A 62-year-old school janitor allegedly killed three school employees with an automatic rifle before attempting suicide by gunshot. The suspect was stabilised and has been facing trial since September 2025.

Background

Small arms and weapons have been frequently trafficked in the Balkans since the Yugoslav Wars. Per a 2010 study executed by the United Nations Development Programme, there were around 750,000 illegally owned weapons in Bosnia and Herzegovina. ^[1] Mass shootings are a relatively rare occurrence in the Balkans, but they had lately seen a small rise, including the Daruvar shooting in neighboring Croatia and the Mladenovac and Smederevo shootings and Belgrade school shooting, both in neighboring Serbia. ^[2]

Shooting

At around 10:15 a.m. on 21 August 2024, a janitor arrived at the school on his off-day after driving his wife to work. The suspect had returned home to retrieve an automatic rifle owned by his father and two ammunition magazines, smuggling them into the school building in a water pipe. He entered the first floor offices of the school's director and a secretary, killing both with multiple gunshots. The suspect returned to the ground floor, where he shot an English teacher. Afterwards, he attempted to commit suicide by shooting himself in the chest. ^{[3] [4]} He survived his self-inflicted wound and was taken into custody.

Some school employees reported that the suspect had entered into disputes with the school management ^[1] and was suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder after serving in the Yugoslav People's Army. ^[4]

Victims

The deceased victims were identified as: ^{[1] [5]}

• Nijaz Halilović (born 1961), school director
• Gordana Midžan (born 1959), English teacher
• Nisveta Kljunić (born 1959), secretary

Aftermath

A day after the shooting, the suspect was in stable condition after undergoing surgery. ^[6]

A three-day period of mourning was declared in Sanski Most because of the shooting. ^[7]

On 18 December 2024, the suspect pleaded not guilty to three counts of murder and one count of illegal possession of weapons. ^[8] In September 2025, the suspect's trial began at Bihać Cantonal Court. In his testimony, the suspect claimed to have little memory of the shooting and that he had been feeling a noise and tingling in his head. The suspect described feeling in "delirium" with memory gaps, such as taking the gun from home and walking through the school, stating he made the suicide attempt in regret of his actions after regaining full awareness. He also issued an apology and said he had heard a voice telling him to hurry, which prompted a psychological evaluation. ^[9] In October 2025, two psychological assessors stated that the defendant was mentally impaired at the time of the shooting. Families of the victims disputed the neutrality of this claim. ^[10]

References

1. "Three teachers killed in Bosnia school shooting". euronews. 21 August 2024. Retrieved 21 August 2024.
2. "Three staff killed in shooting in school in Bosnia". SWI swissinfo.ch. 21 August 2024. Archived from the original on 24 September 2024. Retrieved 21 August 2024.
3. "School employee kills at least 3 people in a Bosnian town, police say". AP News. 21 August 2024. Retrieved 21 August 2024.
4. "Mehemed Vukalić svjedočio o jezivom zločinu: Neki glas mi je govorio da požurim". Provjereno (in Serbian (Cyrillic script)).
5. Tufek, Fikret (21 August 2025). "Godišnjica ubistva troje profesora u gimnaziji u Sanskom Mostu: Otkrivena spomen ploča ubijenima". Oslobođenje (in Bosnian). Retrieved 25 August 2025.
6. "SANSKI MOST SHOOTING SUSPECT STABLE AFTER SURGERY". SRNA. 22 August 2024. Retrieved 9 December 2024.
7. "U Sanskom Mostu trodnevna žalost zbog trostrukog ubistva". Al Jazeera Balkans (in Bosnian). 22 August 2024. Retrieved 21 January 2025.
8. Fokus.ba (18 December 2024). "Mehmed Vukalić se izjasnio o krivici za trostruko ubistvo u školi". Fokus.ba (in Croatian). Retrieved 28 June 2025.
9. Čekić, Zlatan (17 September 2025). "Mehemed Vukalić unakrsno ispitivan: Osjećao sam buku i trnke u glavi". Nezavisne novine (in Serbian). Retrieved 6 October 2025.
10. "Sudski vještaci tvrde da je Mehemed Vukalić bio smanjeno uračunljiv tokom trostrukog ubistva". N1 info (in Bosnian). 17 October 2025. Retrieved 1 November 2025.