We wish a speedy and full recovery to the wounded policeman, the investigation should shed light on the motive

PM Andrej Plenkovic has said that the circumstances and reason for an attempt to kill a police officer working as a government security guard, which occurred on Monday morning, are being investigated, that security measures will be reexamined and that the minister of the interior is not responsible.

Addressing reporters in St. Mark's Square, where the government offices are located and where earlier in the day a 22-year-old man gravely wounded a police officer with a machine-gun, killing himself afterwards at a different location, Plenkovic said that police and prosecutorial authorities were doing their best to investigate how that could happen and establish the motive.

"This is evidently an incident for which we lack sufficient information for a more serious analysis. Police and prosecutors will establish if this was an act by a single person. Judging from available information, I would say that it was. But it is too early to comment in greater detail," he said.

Plenkovic wished the wounded police officer a speedy recovery and expressed support to his family.

The PM said that since a protest outside the government building in early September, when a van carrying watermelons was unloaded there by member of the European Parliament Ivan Vilibor Sincic, who by doing so wanted to point to the poor status of farmers, security had been stepped up.

"We have had a culture of openness for years in Croatian democracy. St. Mark's Square, where state institutions are located, is accessible by everyone... under the current regime, public gatherings are allowed but today's incident is a new situation and it is likely to prompt new analyses of security," he said.

He said that he did not think the shooting had anything to do with Sincic's performance.

There is freedom of movement in St. Mark's Square and people passing by can carry anything they want in their bags, he said.

"Unfortunately, that is a problem," he said, announcing that security measures would be stepped up.

Answering a reporter's question, he said that he did not think that there was any responsibility on the part of Minister of the Interior Davor Bozinovic.

"There is no responsibility on his part. I can see that media have already started asking questions... No. This is a very clear answer, now and for the next four years," said Plenkovic.

Text: Hina

News