Vladimir Bruçi, a resident of the Rus neighborhood in Shkodra, has become a well-known name to the police and public opinion not for his professional achievements or public life, but for a series of violent conflicts that have accompanied him in recent years. Today, on August 20, 2026, he was wounded again by gunfire near his home.
At around 2:30 p.m., in the Rus neighborhood (also called Partizani or Skanderbeg), Bruçi was shot with a pistol by his neighbor Pjerin Bitani. The bullet hit him in the leg. Immediately taken to the hospital, the 62-year-old (reported age 2024) is out of danger. According to sources, the two men had been together in a bar a little while ago and the conflict erupted for weak motives – according to some reports, perhaps because of security cameras. Bitani has been declared wanted.
This is not the first incident that has put Bruçi in the spotlight. On June 3, 2024, on “Pogej” Street in the same neighborhood, he was severely beaten with hard objects by a group of people. The cause was a banal fight over a parking space. Bruçi, then 62 years old, suffered multiple injuries, including to the head, and was rushed to the hospital.
The police identified six suspects: Edmond Sakicaj (immediately arrested), Izmir Sakicaj, Samet Halluni, Arlind Kajoshi, Samuel Troshani and Alban Bruçi – the victim’s son, who was initially suspected of obstructing the investigation. Some of the suspects were linked to the well-known Bajra criminal group.
In March 2026, the Shkodra Court handed down sentences for three of them. Izmir Sakica was sentenced to 4 years in prison (reduced to 2 years and 8 months with a summary trial) for disturbing public peace in collaboration and the unauthorized production and possession of hunting and sporting weapons. Samuel Troshani and Arlind Kajoshi were sentenced to 16 months in prison each for disturbing public peace. The first two had surrendered in January 2025, stating that they had agreed with Bruçi.
The conflict did not stop with the June violence. About three months later, on September 7, 2024, Vladimir Bruçi's son, Alban Bruçi, fired several shots at a Land Rover belonging to the Kajoshi family. Arjon Kajoshi, the brother of Arlind Kajoshi (one of the suspects in the violence against his father), was in the car. Arjon escaped unharmed. The motive was clearly linked to revenge. Alban Bruçi was wanted for attempted premeditated murder and illegal possession of weapons. He was arrested in Tirana in September 2025.
Beyond these events, Vladimir Bruçi's public biography remains poor. His profession, other activities, or personal history are unknown. He appears in the media simply as a resident of the Rus neighborhood who has been involved, from time to time, in local violent conflicts – first over a parking space, then in clashes with neighbors. His name has become synonymous with the tensions that often erupt in the neighborhoods of Shkodra for seemingly minor reasons, but which end in severe violence and family revenge.
Today, as the police search for Pjerin Bitani and the investigation continues, Vladimir Bruçi remains lying in the hospital with a bullet in his leg – a new chapter in a story that seems unlikely to end easily.
