Tense footage captured the moment the gunman who attempted to assassinate Slovakia’s prime minister was tackled to the ground and detained by police — as it was revealed the shooting was “politically motivated.”
The video, obtained by the Guardian, showed a frantic crowd mobbing an individual moments after Prime Minister Robert Fico was struck with at least one slug to the stomach on Wednesday afternoon.
Slovakia’s interior minister Matúš Šutaj-Eštok later in the day said the shooting was “politically motivated” after the country’s recent presidential election. Fico was shot five times, officials said.
The attack left Fico in “extraordinarily serious” condition and “fighting for his life,” Slovakian defense minister Robert Kaliňák said in a press conference hours after the shooting, the Guardian reported.
“We do not have good news at the moment and we put our hope in the hands of the medical specialists at the hospital,” he said, adding the prime minister’s “health is serious, his situation is bad.”
Fico remained in surgery three and a half hours after first going under the knife, Kaliňák said.
Fico’s official Facebook page called the shooting an assassination attempt.
The shooting happened in the town of Handlova, about 90 miles northeast of the capital Bratislava, where Fico was meeting with supporters.
Video also showed guards carrying a seriously injured Fico, 59, into a black government car, which then sped off.
“At this moment he is transported by helicopter to Banská Bystrica, because it would take too long to get to Bratislava due to the necessity of an acute procedure. The next few hours will decide,” the Facebook post said.
Photos from the scene showed a white middle-aged man and a bloodied head being detained by police.
It was unclear what motivated the shooting.
A staunch conservative, Fico was elected to his third term as prime minister in September after campaigning with a pro-Russian and anti-American stance.
In Slovakia, the prime minister is the most powerful office. Numerous demonstrations have been staged in Bratislava in protest of Fico’s policies since his election.
Despite the tensions, Fico’s opponents in government condemned the shooting, and even canceled a planned protest after the attack.
“We absolutely and strongly condemn violence and today’s shooting of Premier Robert Fico,” progressive Slovakia leader Michal Simecka said.
“At the same time we call on all politicians to refrain from any expressions and steps which could contribute to further increasing the tension,” he added.
With Post wires