Suspected gunman aged 89 held in Greece after five wounded

Nikos Papanikolaou,
Zahra Fatimaand
Gabriela Pomeroy
News imageReuters Three police officers walk outside a courthouse in following a shooting incident that left several wounded. The men wear dark navy uniforms, bullet proof vests and sunglasses.Reuters

Police in Greece have arrested an 89-year-old manfollowing a double shootingwhich left five people injured.

The attacker initially opened fire at a social security agency in the Kerameikos area of Athenson Tuesday, wounding an employee in the leg, police say.

He then travelled to a courthouse around 5km (3.1 miles) away in Ambelokipi,where a further four people were reportedly injured, before fleeing the scene and leaving behind a shotgun, authorities add.

There is a heavy police presence at both locations and the motive for the shooting is not yet clear.

News imageAnnotated satellite map showing locations connected to a series of violent incidents in Greece. The upper section is a detailed aerial view of Athens, labelled “Athens,” with dense city streets visible. Two numbered markers highlight incident sites: marker one, in the south‑west of the city, is labelled “Public social security agency: Man opened fire and wounded one person.” Marker two, further north‑east, is labelled “Appeals Court: Shotgun found after four people injured.” A scale bar shows distances of 500 metres and 2,000 feet. Below, a simplified map of Greece shows the country outline with seas in blue. Athens is marked in the east. A third numbered marker highlights Patra, in western Greece, with a label reading “Patra: Man arrested near the coach station.” A small inset locator map shows Greece’s position within Europe. A scale indicates 25 kilometres and 25 miles.

Police arrested the man at a hotel near the bus station in the port city of Patras, some 200km from the capital.

He was carrying a second weapon, a loaded .38 calibre revolver.

According to local media reports, the attacker had entered the buildings in Athens with a shotgun concealed under his coat.

ERT showed surveillance footage of the suspect calmly leaving the building on foot - with police investigating the possibility he had caught a taxi to the second location.

"I saw the whole thing... he was firing at the ground," one eyewitness told state news agency AMNA.

"Four women working at the small claims court were slightly injured," the head of the judiciary employees' union in Athens, Stratis Dounias, told the broadcaster.

The suspect's niece contacted authorities after recognising him as the man involved, state broadcaster ERT reports.

The five people - a man and four women - were left with non-life-threatening injuries in the shootings.

Gun violence in Greece is relatively uncommon, as firearm ownership is allowed but heavily regulated.