A wide-scale manhunt is ongoing across Athens for an 89-year-old gunman after a two-site shooting spree on Tuesday left five people wounded, Greek law enforcement and local media have confirmed. The violent incident began at a social security agency located in the Athens neighborhood of Petralona, where the suspect first opened fire, striking an employee in the leg.
After the initial attack, the shooter traveled a short distance to a nearby courthouse in the Ampelokipi district, where he injured four additional people before fleeing the premises. Law enforcement officials confirmed that the suspect abandoned his shotgun at the courthouse after the attack, leaving the weapon behind as he escaped.
All five casualties – one man and four women – have been confirmed to have non-life-threatening injuries, according to public broadcaster ERT. Stratis Dounias, head of Athens’ judiciary employees’ union, clarified that the four people hurt at the courthouse were all female court staff working at the small claims division, and all suffered only minor wounds.
At present, heavily armed police units have deployed to both attack sites to secure the areas and support the ongoing investigation, though authorities have not yet identified a clear motive for the coordinated attacks. ERT’s reporting notes that the gunman concealed his shotgun under his coat when he entered both buildings to carry out the attacks. As of the latest updates, the suspect remains at large, and investigative teams are working to trace his whereabouts and unpack the context of the incident.
Notably, gun violence remains a rare occurrence in Greece, where the country’s strict regulatory framework allows limited firearm ownership only under heavy oversight and rigorous checks.