Bosnian most-wanted fugitive shot dead after massive manhunt

SARAJEVO, Bosnia-Herzegovina (AP) - Bosnia police on Tuesday shot and killed the country's most-wanted fugitive, who had been sought in the slayings of a police officer and another person, after a huge manhunt.

Edin Gacic died after a shootout with police near the capital Sarajevo, police said. A policeman was slightly wounded in the shootout, Sarajevo police commissioner Mevludin Halilovic said.

Police sealed off the snow-covered mountainous area where Gacic had been located after the search involving hundreds of police and other security officers.

Halilovic said police had received hundreds of tips, but one from the state intelligence agency OSA on Monday evening proved to be correct.

"We surrounded and secured the wider area and the location itself so that there was no way for him to pull out," Halilovic explained. He said Gacic refused to surrender to police.

Gacic is suspected of killing a grocery store owner and the police officer last week. Investigators haven't established a motive. The killings had triggered panic in Bosnia.

The 42-year-old served two prison sentences for murder but was released in 2017 after serving two-thirds of the 20-year term. His victims were his mother and a man who served with a battalion of Muslim volunteers during Bosnia's 1992-95 war.

Police had offered 25,000 euros ($28,000) for information on Gacic's whereabouts.