A gunman killed seven people and wounded 15 others before committing suicide in a Monday killing spree in the Slovak capital Bratislava, officials said. The suspect, whose age police estimated at around 50, shot dead five people in an apartment in Bratislava and another man in the building's doorway, dpa quoted police president Jaroslav Spisiak as saying. The victims, four women and two men, likely belonged to one family, Spisiak said. Interior Minister Daniel Lipsic confirmed that they were Roma. The gunman's motive remains unknown, officials said. While Lipsic said that he "doubted" a racial motive, relatives of the Roma victims told the Sme daily that the shooter "was against the Gypsies." A photograph of the suspect, which was taken by a witness from a balcony and published on Sme's website, showed a middle-aged, grey- haired man, who wore jeans and a hearing-protection headset. The man was armed with an illegally obtained submachine gun and two shotguns, Spisiak said. Lipsic acknowledged that the gunman's possible past employment in security forces could have been linked to his possession of the weapons. The suspect continued firing at windows, balconies and passing cars when police approached him during his flight from the scene. While he was fleeing, he killed a 52-year-old woman, who was found shot dead in her apartment. "During his escape, he walked several metres and fired away at everything that was moving," Spisiak said in a briefing televised on the CT24 news channel. The shooter committed suicide after police surrounded him "in a place from which was no escape," the police president said. Health Minister Ivan Uhliarik said that 15 people were injured in the rampage, including 13 who had to be taken to the city's hospitals. He said that one person was in a critical yet stable condition and three others remained in a serious condition. Medical rescue services said that the injured included a 3-year- old child, whose ear was reportedly grazed by a bullet. One policeman was wounded by a gunshot in his head but was in stable condition, Lipsic said. The gunfire erupted in the city's Devinska Nova Ves residential district about 10 am (0800 GMT), officials said. Ambulances and police rushed to the scene, and local authorities warned residents through a public address system to stay at home and away from windows.
