The Split County State Attorney’s Office announced on Tuesday, after the crime scene investigation and autopsy, that Frane Petrinovic, who attempted to rob the Erste Bank in downtown Split on Friday, shot himself in the jaw before the fatal shot to the right side of his crown.
Without mentioning his identity, the Split State Attorney’s Office stated that the investigation determined that Petrinovic (65), wearing a rubber mask, hood, sunglasses, and red-and-black gloves, entered the Erste Bank branch in Split and demanded money at gunpoint.
“The bank employee, fearing for her life, handed the suspect the money. At the same time, the suspect pointed the gun at the bank’s entrance and moved toward the exit while police officers were exiting the bank and taking positions on both sides of the entrance. The suspect then reached the bank’s security guard, pressed the gun against his head, and used him as a hostage to move toward the exit,” the statement said.
They added that after leaving the bank with the security guard as a hostage, the suspect moved westward along the bank and, upon reaching the corner of the building, pointed his gun at a police officer who was following behind them and fired a shot in her direction. At that moment, the security guard broke free and pushed the suspect away with both hands, causing him to fall to the ground.
“In a crouching position, the suspect aimed his gun at the police officers but, after sustaining a gunshot wound to his right thigh, fell onto the gravelly ground along the bank’s western facade. The suspect then fired a shot at his own jaw, followed by a shot to the right side of his crown, which caused his death,” the statement read.
At the scene, court-appointed forensic medicine and pathology expert Antonio Alujevic conducted an external examination of the suspect’s body and, based on an order from the Split County State Attorney’s Office, performed a forensic autopsy. Through external examination and autopsy, Alujevic determined that the cause of death was a gunshot wound to the head inflicted by a projectile from a firearm fired at point-blank range.
Unofficial sources indicate that Petrinovic used a TT pistol and that, during the crime scene investigation, police found a bullet lodged in the bank’s ceiling, which firefighters retrieved. It remains unclear how many shots were fired in total, with some witnesses claiming to have counted eight.
Due to the robbery in the center of Split, on Gunduliceva Street, traffic was blocked for several hours until the crime scene investigation was completed, after which the coroner’s service transported the deceased man’s body to the pathology department of the University Hospital of Split.
