BELGRADE -- President Aleksandar Vucic said on June 30 that Serbia's heightened security alert will likely stay in place for at least two more days after a "well-trained" attacker was killed after shooting a police officer with a crossbow in a presumed terrorist incident in front of the Israeli Embassy in Belgrade.
Serbian Prime Minister Milos Vucevic called it a "heinous terrorist attack."
Police in Serbia have detained two further individuals and are continuing related operations all over the country following the midday incident 0n June 29, Interior Minister Ivica Dacic told Serbian state broadcaster RTS on June 30.
Dacic had previously said the entire country had been put on red alert with an increased police presence.
He identified the slain suspect as a religious convert to Islam named Milos Zujovic and said the man had moved to Novi Pazar, a southern city near the border with Kosovo with a long tradition in both Orthodox and Muslim history.
Dacic said the dead attacker was a member of the radical Wahhabi movement.
Dacic said another individual who was nearby at the time of the incident had been arrested on suspicion of being connected with the attack.
He identified the second person of interest as a man arrested two years ago for "being the administrator of several militant groups on the Internet that called for jihad," including against police.
Vucic later said "the attacker was extremely well-trained" and had fired the crossbow while it was still inside a sack "so the attack would be completely unexpected." He also said authorities were searching for at least a third individual who is known to be in Serbia.
"I think we will resolve everything by Tuesday [July 2] and everything will be fine by then," Vucic said in a June 30 appearance on TV Prva.
Police were carrying out searches at multiple locations in Novi Pazar in first hours after the attack.
The injured police officer, who reportedly fired multiple shots at the attacker after he was hit in the neck by an arrow from a crossbow, was not said to be in life-threatening condition.
Dacic said the suspect had approached the officer multiple times asking about a museum before returning and opening the door of a building in front of the embassy grounds. He then "shot the gendarme in the neck" with the crossbow. The attacker was pronounced dead about half an hour later, Dacic said.
President Vucic visited the recovering officer, Milos Jevremovic, and said he was in "very good condition."
Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz called it an "attempted terror act on the Embassy of Israel" and thanked the Serbian government and those involved for their "prompt response" and cooperation. "Terrorism cannot be tolerated!" Katz added via social network X.
Serbian Prime Minister Milos Vucevic said it was a "heinous terrorist attack" and "an act of insanity, which cannot be attributed to any religion or any nation." Writing on X, Vucevic said "the State of Serbia will be able to resolutely respond to the threat of terrorism."
"Anyone who thought that they could destabilize us with such inactions was mistaken," he said.
"Our country was and will remain peaceful, stable and prosperous, and interfaith harmony will continue to adorn our society," Vucevic added.