PHOTO/ This is 40-year-old Aleksandër Koçeku, who was executed last night in Dukagjin

The man you see in the photo below is Aleksandër Koçeku, the 40-year-old who was executed yesterday evening in the Karma e Kirit area of Dukagjin, after being hit by a burst of 25 automatic gunshots.

It is learned that the attack took place on an isolated mountain road with no security cameras, a location carefully chosen by the perpetrators to ambush the victim as he was traveling in his vehicle.

The lifeless body of the 40-year-old was found by a passerby, who immediately notified the authorities about the serious incident. The police’s initial investigation has focused on the possibility of a blood feud, as family members said the victim had been living under the threat of revenge since 2017. This is because the victim, Aleksandër Koçeku, is the brother of Vasel Koçeku, who was arrested for the murder of 20-year-old Pavlin Preka on February 26, 2025.

Details from Preka’s murder

The incident took place on February 20, 2025, in the Gucia e Re area, in the Rrethina administrative unit of Shkodra. Investigative sources suspect the killing may have been motivated by a long-running conflict linked to the victim’s wish to become engaged to Vasel Koçeku’s daughter, who at the time was 13 years old.

The story began around three years ago, when Pavlin Preka had asked the Koçeku family for the daughter’s hand in engagement. At that time, the girl was only 13 years old, now 16, while Preka was 17. The request was immediately rejected by her father, Koçeku, on the grounds that the girl was underage. However, over the following years, Preka continued to persist over the girl, expressing his feelings to other people as well.

The Koçeku family did not accept it, considering it unacceptable because of the girl’s minor age, while on several occasions they were told what the victim was saying. According to the investigation, it is suspected that on the morning of February 20, Klaudio Lisaj, an acquaintance of both the victim and the Koçeku family, took Pavlin Preka out of his home in Guci e Re. Then, according to the prosecution’s suspicions, Vasel Koçeku shot him with a firearm, causing his immediate death.

The lifeless body of the 20-year-old was found several hours later by family members after he failed to answer phone calls. A relative of his, specifically the victim’s uncle, told authorities that Pavlin Preka had no problems with anyone and that he lived quietly and without trouble between Shkodra and Dukagjin. The investigation into Pavlin Preka’s murder is ongoing, with the aim of fully clarifying the circumstances and motives of this grave event that shook Shkodra 10 months ago.