After the shooting, he attempted to commit suicide, but was captured while doing so and taken into medical custody.

Small arms and weapons have been frequently trafficked in the Balkans since the Yugoslav Wars.

Per a 2010 study executed by the United Nations Development Programme, there were around 750,000 illegally owned weapons in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

[3] At around 10:15 a.m. on August 21, 2024, the school janitor, 50-year-old Mehmed Vukalić, opened fire on employees with an automatic rifle, killing three people, before attempting to commit suicide by shooting himself in the chest.

The deceased victims were identified as:[2] Vukalić is currently in a non-life-threatening situation, and being held at the University Clinical Center of the Republika Srpska in Banja Luka.