Live-Fire Drill at "Bejbunar" in Ohrid: Police Reserves Scheduled Shooting for Sunday at Eight, the Notice Came Saturday Night

If you heard gunfire coming from the "Bejbunar" shooting range in Ohrid on Sunday morning, it was not an incident. Members of the reserve force attached to the Ohrid Interior Affairs Sector had a live-ammunition training exercise scheduled, starting at 8 a.m.

The notice came out on Saturday evening, in a statement from the Ohrid police (SVR Ohrid). Police announced they would patrol and secure the wider area around the range so that no member of the public would wander into the safety zones. Medical cover for the exercise was assigned to teams from the public health centre in Ohrid.

The appeal to the public was the usual one: respect the no-entry signs and markings, do not linger in the safety zones and follow the instructions of officers on the ground. Routine - but routine with live rounds.

Training is necessary, nobody disputes that. The question is a different one: is a Saturday-night announcement for shooting at eight on Sunday morning enough time for someone spending the weekend outdoors near the range? And is one evening's warning really the standard we should be happy with?