Resulaj shooting

Resulaj shooting is a mass shooting that occurred on August 10, 2018, at Resulaj, Selenicë, Vlorë County, Albania. Ritvan Zykaj shot 8 of his relatives using a Kalashnikov. After the shooting, he hid on a hill near the village and was caught by police the next day.[1]

Resulaj shooting
LocationResulaj, Selenicë, Vlorë County, Albania
DateAugust 10, 2018
TargetRelatives
Attack type
Mass shooting
WeaponsKalashnikov rifle
Deaths8
PerpetratorRitvan Zykaj

Shooting

At around 1:30 p.m. on August 10, 2018, the Zykaj family gathered for lunch at Kujtim Zykaj. During lunch, it was discussed that Ritvan Zykaj stole chickens from Vasilika Zykaj. Offended and annoyed, he got up from dinner and left. Thirty minutes later, he returned with a Kalashnikov rifle and shot eight people. He filmed the bodies of the victims and sent the video to a relative via Facebook Messenger. After the shooting, he fled and hid on a hill. While in hiding, he wrote comments on Facebook. He was detained the next day.[2][3][4][1][5]

Perpetrator

Ritvan Zykaj was born on June 16, 1994 in Selenicë. He lived in the village of Resulaj.[1]

Eight years before the shooting, Ritvan was badly burned in a fire. Two of the victims, Besim and Azem Zykaj, rescued him then. Due to this fire, his behavior became inadequate and strange. He became nervous. He has been repeatedly accused of theft. He was arrested for this, investigated, but released. He also repeatedly fired near the village. Residents complained to the police, Ritvan was arrested but released.[6][7][8][9][10]

The forensic examination concluded that he was mentally healthy.[11]

According to him, the Kalashnikov assault rifle, which was used in the shooting, was obtained during the Albanian Civil War and has been stored ever since.[10]

On July 10, 2019, he was sentenced to life imprisonment.[1]

References

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