Early Friday morning, 10/26/2018, two police officers from Sarajevo, Bosnia lost their lives while on patrol. Multiple local media report, the slain officers were killed by a member of a vehicle theft group as the officers responded for auto theft. It was further reported, they were killed by a fire from a fully automatic weapon before even getting a chance to exit their patrol vehicle. Two Sarajevo families will not see their loved ones return home for the weekend. They survived the siege of Sarajevo, only to be slain on the streets in “the peacetime.”
Bosnian-American Police Association (BAPA) is a Facebook based social group of American Law Enforcement Officers. We are Americans with origin or family roots in Bosnia. In our beloved United States, we have organizations like “Backstoppers” to assist the families of slain First Responders. Our Bosnian kin and colleagues are not as lucky to have such a robust support network. We were touched by the tragic news from Bosnia and decided to collect some monetary aid for the families of the Officers Šehović and Vujinović.
We intend to raise what we can within one month. One of our members is scheduled to visit Bosnia this November. He is an American police officer who will hand deliver the raised funds 50/50 to both affected families. I’m sure we could raise more over a longer period of time, but we wish to show support to the slain officers’ families as soon as practicable. Officer Šehović’s son is currently in the local Police Academy and we wish to show him that people support the police no matter the location.
For more information, feel free to reach out to me directly or take a look at some of the local news coverage.
Thank you for your support!
Balkan Insight Article in English 
Sarajevo Times news article in English 
Independent Balkan News Agency article in English