A police officer was found dead on Saturday evening in Tarcin, a settlement near Sarajevo, when his colleague came to take over the shift.

The said policeman, who was a member of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina entity’s Interior Ministry (FUP), was on duty when an unknown perpetrator shot him with a firearm. He was shot while guarding the FUP training facility.

According to the Interior Ministry, the main suspect for this murder is Edin Gacic who is wanted by the police for the murder of a man near the central-Bosnian town of Konjic. Gacic was at large ever since.

Back in 1999, Gacic was convicted to a 14 prison sentence for another murder. During a prison leave in 2002, he killed his own mother. He was then convicted to a single 20-year sentence and prior to the expiration of his sentence, he was transferred to a Bihac prison, in northern Bosnia.

The Bihac prison administration then wrote to several competent institutions, saying that Gacic was likely to commit the same crime after he leaves the prison.

At the time of the Konjic murder, when Suad Sultanic was murdered, Gacic was armed with an automatic rifle. All the state police agencies are involved in the search for the suspect, and the FUP and other police agencies have intensified their search efforts with the use of the most sophisticated equipment at their disposal.

Sarajevo Canton’s Interior Minister, Admir Katica, said, during the Sunday press conference, that a three-minister team, consisting of Cantonal Finance, Interior, and Justice ministers, was formed. They will be in constant contact with the Operation Headquarters and provide all the necessary assistance in the search for the suspect.

“We need to make the residents of Canton Sarajevo feel safe in their neighbourhoods, once again. We’ll pay special attention to schools, kindergartens and other locations of interest,” Katica said.

He added that Sarajevo Canton’s government would be in continuous session until Gacic is apprehended.

Cantonal Police Commissioner Mevludin Halilovic said they have enough information to conclude that Edin Gacic is the prime suspect in this murder case.

Canton Sarajevo’s Prime Minister, Edin Forto, said that everyone reacted according to the highest standards and that the Saturday murder demands additional resources.

“That’s why we decided that the government should provide all the necessary assistance to the Commissioner and to call on other cantons to dispatch their police forces so we could act together,” Forto said.

He stressed that everyone was involved in the case and that nothing will threaten the safety of Sarajevo citizens and guests who came to watch the European Youth Olympic Festival (EYOF) 2019, which opens on Sunday, at 7 pm.