Loud neighbours may have sparked Slovakia killing spree

ANGER over loud neighbours may have caused a heavily armed man to kill seven people before committing suicide in a rampage that has shocked Slovakia, authorities suggested yesterday.

But with six of the dead — including a 12-year-old boy — identified as Roma, or Gypsies, officials also left open the possibility that Monday’s bloodbath on the outskirts of Bratislava, the Slovak capital, was racially motivated.

“We are looking into all motives,” Interior Minister Daniel Lipsic told reporters at a news conference. He identified the attacker, who used a machine gun and two pistols to target his victims, as Lubomir Harman.