A gunman has opened fire at two locations in Athens, Greece, leaving several people injured. The suspect, reportedly an 89-year-old man, is said to have been armed with a shotgun concealed beneath a trench coat when he first struck at a social security office in the city centre.
The first shooting unfolded at EFKA offices in the Kerameikos area. Police said the attacker entered the building and opened fire, wounding an employee in the leg. According to Alexandros Varveris, head of the National Social Security Fund (EFKA), the gunman “went in, went up to the fourth floor, raised his shotgun, told an employee to duck and hit another one.” Emergency responders treated the injured worker at the scene, where officers applied a tourniquet before the victim was transported to hospital. Varveris said it did not appear the victim had been specifically targeted. The attacker then fled the scene, triggering a major police operation.
The same man is believed to have later opened fire at a courthouse in another part of central Athens, where several more people were wounded.
Footage from state broadcaster ERT showed ambulance crews transporting at least three injured people from the courthouse to waiting emergency vehicles.
Police confirmed they had recovered the shotgun, but the suspect remains at large, with a hunt underway to track him down.
The motive behind the shooting remains unclear.
State broadcaster ERT reported that the gunman allegedly threw envelopes containing documents onto the floor at the courthouse, claiming they outlined the reasons for his actions.
Gun violence is considered rare in Greece, where firearm ownership is permitted but strictly regulated.
