Arlind Bushati (32) and Hamza Lici (23) were killed on 30 October while driving along “Tuzi Road” in Shkodër. The attack also claimed the lives of two passers-by. Police suspect it is linked to clashes between criminal groups.
How the attack unfolded
Hamza and Arlind were shot at from a Range Rover SUV that had been following them at a distance. The attack took place at around 15:50 in the Dobraç neighbourhood, about two kilometres north of the city of Shkodër.
As soon as their Mercedes-Benz S-Class, with Croatian number plates, passed a petrol station heading towards the “Five Heroes of Vig” roundabout, gunfire followed, setting off a chain of events that went beyond the attackers’ target.
In the chaos, their car collided with the motorcycle ridden by Bashkim Basha (67) and his wife Flutura (56), who had found themselves caught in the attack without realising it.
Hamza and Flutura died at the scene, while Arlind and Bashkim died in hospital.
Evidence from the scene and initial suspicions
Three hours after the attack, the gunmen’s Range Rover was found burning in Golem, about 5 minutes’ drive from the scene of the massacre.
Police suspected that, to cover their tracks and destroy evidence, the perpetrators, suspected to be Izmir Sakica and Samuel Troshani, had doused the car in acid before setting it alight.
The investigation nevertheless established that the car had been stolen in Durrës on 19 April and that at least five people may have organised the attack.
Meanwhile, around 30 cartridge cases were found beside the Mercedes-Benz at the scene. This, together with the discovery of three pistols inside, suggests that there was an exchange of gunfire after the collision.
The authorities suspect that a third person may have been in the car. Police believe he may have been Hamza’s brother, Ibrahim Lici (32).
A video circulated on social media reinforces this suspicion: a person dressed in black was seen pulling Hamza Lici’s body from the car. He appears bloodied, looking along the sides of the road, apparently waiting for someone who may have been coming to pick him up.
Comparisons with earlier photographs have prompted media outlets to report that the person in question may indeed have been Ibrahim Lici.
A dark past
Arlind Bushati, the son of Xhemal Bushati, the Democratic Party’s candidate in the local by-election held in Shkodër on 6 March 2022, appears to have received a death threat before the attack.
On 10 October, three weeks before the killing, he was threatened with a gun while out with friends at a café on Shkodër’s promenade.
The incident happened at around 22:30, when two unidentified people approached him on a motorcycle and one then pointed a pistol at him without firing. The incident was recorded by the café’s cameras, and Bushati reported it to police.
The authorities suspect that the attack may be linked to that episode. Bushati was not the only possible target, however.
The Lici family, known for its ties to the Kulla family, is said to be in conflict with the Bilali and Bajri families. These conflicts are suspected to have caused around 15 deaths in Shkodër since 2017.
A history of revenge, considered to have begun with the failed bomb attack on Lulzim Kulla, appears to have become a chain of killings and clashes between rival groups.
Hamza Lici’s family has a dark past: his father, Mustafa Lici, has led the “Liberal Right-Wing Thought” party and was a member of Shkodër Municipal Council (2015–2019).
On 10 August 2018, he lost his brother, Fatbardh Lici (53), who was killed in the Kiras neighbourhood while drinking his morning coffee. Fatbardh had been a suspect in a killing seven years earlier.
Hamza’s brothers have also been involved in criminal incidents: his eldest brother, Muhamed, was sentenced to 13 years in prison for extortion, while Ibrahim Lici has been linked in allegations to the killings of Brahim and Astrit Bilali (2019) and Endri Mustafa (2021), although he has denied any connection.
For the people of Shkodër, the 30 October attack is another frightening moment in a city exhausted by constant clashes between criminal groups: an endless war in the city’s shadows that calls for more than a temporary solution.