Two people were also injured after a 30-year-old suspect opened fire during a hearing regarding a real estate dispute at the Tirana Court of Appeal.

Three people were arrested in Tirana, the capital of Albania, after a defendant shot dead a judge in a courtroom on Monday, police said.

Judge Astrit Kalaja was presiding over a hearing regarding a real estate dispute at the Tirana Court of Appeal when the man on trial shot her with a pistol, authorities said. The magistrate died while being rushed to hospital.

The gunman also shot two other people in the audience, a father and son, police said. They were taken to hospital but their lives are not believed to be in danger.

Albanian Prime Minister calls for tougher sentences

The suspect—a 30-year-old man identified by authorities only by the initials ES—was arrested shortly after the shooting. He allegedly opened fire because he was "losing" his case, according to local media.

The man's uncle was also arrested, along with a court security officer, police said. The latter reportedly did not physically search the defendant or his uncle after they set off the metal detector upon entering the court.

Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama on Monday deplored a "tragic event" and called for tougher penalties for gun crimes.

"Criminal assault undoubtedly requires the most extreme legal response to the aggressor," he wrote in a message on X.

"I believe that this tragic event is the most compelling argument in support of significantly toughening the penalties in the Criminal Code for illegal possession of weapons and minimizing the possibility of playing with time limits to the detriment of protection against the shooting of illegal weapons!" the statement continues.

Albanian President Bajram Begaj also strongly condemned the murder, calling it a "terrible attack on the entire judicial system."

Colleagues of Judge Astrit Kalaja laid flowers at the crime scene on Tuesday in a symbolic gesture to mark her memory, Euronews Albania reported.