Budapest, 2 January 2024 (dpa/MIA) - A gunman has died by suicide in Montenegro after killing at least 10 people on a shooting rampage in the small town of Cetinje, including two children, according to the authorities.

The government early Thursday ordered three days of national mourning for the victims of Wednesday's attack.

Another four people suffered serious injuries, authorities said.

According to media reports, the 45-year-old suspect had an altercation with another guest at a pub. He then went home to fetch the firearm and returned to the pub to kill and injure several people.

When leaving the scene, he shot dead more people in different parts of the town, including the two children.

The suspect then returned to his home where he shot himself in the head after police surrounded the house and called on him to surrender, said Montenegro's interim police chief Lazar Scepanovic during a press conference.

The man died in the ambulance on the way to hospital shortly before midnight, he added.

The man had already been sentenced to three months in prison for illegal possession of firearms in 2022, Scepanovic said. However, the verdict was not upheld after the man appealed.

In Montenegro and other Balkan countries, many people are armed, often without possessing a gun licence.

The town of Cetinje, with a population of 14,000, was the capital of the then Kingdom of Montenegro until 1918. In August 2022, a gunman there shot 10 people before he himself was killed by an armed passer-by.