Goran Savic (49) fatally shot in La Piccola Baracca pizzeria,

Goran Savić, a 49-year-old restaurant owner and proprietor of pizzeria La Piccola Baracca, was shot dead on Wednesday afternoon, 23 October 2019, inside his restaurant on Hugo de Grootplein in Amsterdam-West. The shooting happened at around 15:45, in broad daylight and in a busy neighbourhood. Savić was not the intended target of the attack. The actual target was Montenegrin criminal Jovan Djurović, who was inside the pizzeria at the time and was seriously wounded but survived the shooting. According to reconstructions, the gunman, Cherif A. from Amstelveen, entered the restaurant armed with a firearm and went after Djurović. During the confrontation, Djurović tried to defend himself and a struggle followed. Goran Savić, who as the owner of the restaurant tried to intervene or stop the situation, was struck by a bullet in the neck. He managed to get outside but died shortly afterwards in front of his business. He left behind a wife and children. Shortly after the shooting, the gunman fled in a grey Volkswagen Polo with Belgian licence plates. Police stopped the car soon afterwards on Admiraal de Ruijterweg, where Cherif A. was arrested and a firearm was found inside the vehicle. Other suspects were later arrested who, according to the Public Prosecution Service, had acted as spotters. They allegedly observed the area around the pizzeria in the days before the shooting to check whether the target was present and passed on information on the day of the attack. The case became known as the “pizzeria murder” because an innocent restaurant owner was killed during an attack that was believed to be connected to a conflict within the international criminal underworld. The Public Prosecution Service demanded 28 years in prison for Cherif A. and 25 years for two co-perpetrators. On 19 July 2021, the Amsterdam District Court sentenced Cherif A. to 24 years in prison for killing Goran Savić and attempting to murder Jovan Djurović. Two co-perpetrators, Denzel V. and Dejan D., were each sentenced to 18 years in prison because the court found that they had acted as spotters and helped prepare and carry out the attack. A fourth suspect, Eyüp T., was acquitted because it could not be proven that he knew his actions were connected to the preparation of a murder. The court regarded Goran Savić as an innocent victim who was hit by the violence while working in his own restaurant. The appeal produced a longer sentence. On 6 June 2024 the Amsterdam court of appeal convicted the gunman, in investigation Runkel, of aggravated manslaughter of Savic and attempted murder of Djurovic, and imposed twenty-eight years. The Supreme Court dismissed the cassation appeal on 20 May 2025, making that conviction final.