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Suspected gunman aged 89 held in Greece after five wounded

April 28, 2026 International Source: BBC World

Suspected gunman aged 89 held in Greece after five wounded

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Five people were left with non-life-threatening injuries, according to Greece's state broadcaster ERT. Police arrest suspected gunman aged 89 after five wounded in Athens Copyright current_year BBC. All rights reserved. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. Read about our approach to external linking. Copyright current_year BBC. All rights reserved. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. Read about our approach to external linking. 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. Suspected gunman aged 89 held in Greece after five wounded Police in Greece have arrested an 89-year-old man following a double shooting which left five people injured. Police in Greece have arrested an 89-year-old man The attacker initially opened fire at a social security agency in the Kerameikos area of Athens on Tuesday, wounding an employee in the leg, police say. The attacker initially opened fire at a social security agency in the Kerameikos area of Athens on 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. 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. Annotated 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. US officials point to a poster showing several kinds of weapons. Suspect charged with attempted assassination of Trump at Washington dinner Taylor Swift looks away from camera while speaking into a microphone onstage at the iHeartRadio music awards in LA in March. Austrian goes on trial accused of plotting attack on Taylor Swift concert Four members of the Taliban security forces holding guns in Kabul on 19 March 2026 Pakistan accused of attacking Afghan university Mercenaries recruited since at least 2020 for illegal migrant ‘pushbacks’ in Greece, BBC told It follows similar moves in other European countries, including France and Spain. Several regions are flooded in mainland Greece, while a Saharan dust storm envelopes the island of Crete. A fault with radio communications caused air traffic controllers to temporarily suspend arrivals and departures. The fire service says the body of an elderly man was found inside his home in the Togani area, close to where the fire started. There have been no reported injuries, as Greece's transport minister condemns the "criminal" attack. Tens of thousands of people demand action as they gather to remember the victims of Greece's worst railway disaster. The girls from Bournemouth School for Girls have been chosen to represent the UK in Athens.