Artan Murtaj, a 44-year-old man known as “Tani Ruzhdiu,” was shot and killed in the center of Saranda on September 20, in an attack that also left a bystander wounded.

Police suspect that two masked men riding a motorcycle carried out the shooting. The attackers reportedly opened fire on Murtaj before fleeing the scene.

Murtaj was known to police and had several previous criminal records, including a conviction for theft. He was also identified as a person who used narcotic substances, according to information provided by authorities.

His name had previously emerged in connection with a July 17, 2025 shooting in Saranda, in which Ernest Lama and Gëzim Hajdaraj, both from Kamza, were wounded by gunfire.

According to the investigation into that case, Ramadan Zoto, 44, was identified as the alleged shooter. Investigators also accused Murtaj, Klaus Jacaj and Erjon Canaj of assisting Zoto during the incident and his subsequent escape.

Zoto is currently in prison in connection with the shooting of Lama and Hajdaraj. Murtaj and Jacaj, who had been charged with assisting the perpetrator, were released some time ago. Canaj remains wanted.

The 2025 shooting was followed by a series of incidents in Saranda that authorities linked to a possible cycle of retaliation. Isuf Jacaj, the father of Klaus Jacaj, was killed in an explosion involving explosives, while another incident involved the destruction of property belonging to Ramadan Zoto.

Investigators have not publicly established a motive for Murtaj’s killing. Police are examining whether his previous criminal connections and the events that followed the 2025 shooting could be relevant to the latest attack.

The investigation remains ongoing as authorities search for the two suspected gunmen and work to establish the circumstances and motive behind the killing.