Local media reported on Wednesday that security forces arrested the alleged perpetrator in the shooting attack on Slovakia's Prime Minister Robert Fico.
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The attacker is 71-year-old Juraj Cintula, a writer and founder of a literary club, Slovak media report. They said that the assailant, originally from Levice in the southeast of the country, was a former employee of a private security company and author of a poetry collection.
The first images showed the moment of the alleged attacker's arrest and the premier's vehicle as he left the scene on his way to the hospital.
Official reports confirm the seriousness of the injuries of the president. According to the private broadcaster TV Joj, the attacker hit Fico in the sternum and extremities after shooting four or five times.
The attack occurred in the village of Handlova, about 150 kilometers northeast of the capital Bratislava. Fico was chatting with supporters of his party outside a cultural center when several shots rang out.
Fico was taken by helicopter to the town of Banská Bystrica, about 65 kilometers from Handlova.
Fico, whose Smer-SD party won the general elections last September, has served four times as Prime Minister. In addition to his current term as Prime Minister, Fico also headed the government in 2006-10 and 2012-18.
Following his election, he has generated some contradiction with neighboring Kiev. He has questioned Ukraine's sovereignty and called for a compromise with Russia.