Shooting at the entrance to Aračinovo: singer Aziz Murati wounded, and the gunman knew him

At around 01:50 last night, at the entrance to Aračinovo, shots were fired from a vehicle at a 48-year-old man from Skopje. The wounded man is Aziz Murati, a well-known singer of Albanian folk music from Skopje. He was taken to the St. Naum of Ohrid hospital and his condition is described as stable.

One detail makes this different from an ordinary police statement: the man who fired knew him. Not a stranger, not a robbery, not random. According to the report filed with the Interior Ministry, the person who fired the weapon was in a vehicle accompanied by another individual, and Murati had known him for some time.

Murati is a long-standing name on Skopje's Albanian music scene - a man who performs at family celebrations and weddings with his ensemble, with released albums and songs people know by heart. So this is not an anonymous passer-by, but a recognisable figure in his own community.

The Interior Ministry announced that measures are being taken to clear up the case. That is the standard phrasing we read after every shooting in this country. The question that remains is how many of these cases actually get cleared up, and how many sit in a drawer until the journalists stop asking.

Shots fired from a car, at the entrance to a populated place, at a man the shooter knows - that is not a random street settling of scores. That is something with a prior history. And it is precisely that history the Interior Ministry needs to explain, rather than simply noting the outcome.