New details have been learned from the crime that occurred on Thursday evening in Saranda, Rexhep Ismaili was shot dead.

According to information, it is suspected that 66-year-old Rexhep Ismaili was not the main reason why a group of young people went to his bar yesterday evening for a conflict regarding a property in the coastal area.

Sources close to the investigative group indicate that the 6 young men went to the bar at the intersection of the Saranda - Himara road at around 21:28 PM on Thursday, after they had information that 50-year-old Tori Ruci alias Viktor Ruci, originally from Tepelena and a resident of the village of Gjashtë in Saranda for many years, was there.

Ruci turns out to be a person with many criminal records since the early 2000s.

He was released from prison on March 12, 2026, after being detained by police on February 19 of this year as a result of an 8-month prison sentence in absentia for "failure to report a crime" given in 2019. Ruci was released from prison after his sentence had expired.

He was involved in a drug trafficking group busted in 2018 by the Saranda police.

One of the young men involved in yesterday's incident had a disagreement with Ruci over ownership issues regarding a bar in the coastal area and even had a conflict with him.

For this reason, he called for help from some of his friends and together they went to the bar of 66-year-old Rexhep Ismaili, where they found Ruci, Ismaili and 3 other people sitting at a table on the veranda, surrounded by their family and friends.

A physical argument with hard objects immediately began between the parties, with Tori Ruci as the main target from the other side. After they were hit with hard objects, at one point Rexhep Ismaili entered the bar and came out with a "Kalashnikov" type firearm, opening fire several times at the group of young people.

It is learned that one of them was wounded in the shooting. The other group responded with a pistol, shooting Ismail once in the head, who died on the spot.