Two people were shot on Tuesday when a man opened fire in the social welfare centre in the eastern Croatian town of Djakovo, killing one and seriously injuring another employee of the centre, the Osijek-Baranja county police confirmed, adding the shooter escaped on a bicycle and is still at large.

The wounded employee, a legal advisor who worked at the centre, was admitted to the hospital in the nearby city of Osijek in critical condition. He is currently undergoing surgery, the hospital confirmed.

The woman who was killed was a social worker.

According to unconfirmed reports, the shooter was a client of the centre with a history of mental illness.

Social Welfare Minister, Nada Murganic, arrived in Djakovo on Tuesday afternoon.

“It is terrible that people who do such humane work are dying in their workplaces,” she said. “I have to say, we will try to implement additional protection mechanisms, but I don’t know if we’ll manage to prevent more tragedies.”

According to the head of the security company in charge of securing the facility, the security guard was at his post at the time of the shooting, and was the first to run for help.