Several wounded as gunman, 89, opens fire in Greek capital

Police in Greece’s capital were searching for a gunman, reportedly aged 89, who opened fire on Tuesday in a social security office and a court in central Athens, wounding at least four people.

Armed with a shotgun, the gunman initially opened fire at the social security office, wounding an employee, police said.

Police treated the man, but the gunman fled the scene.

Media aired security camera footage that it said was from a shop near the social security office, which showed a man walking calmly across the street carrying what appears to be a short-barrelled shotgun in his right hand.

The same man was suspected of later opening fire on the ground floor of a court building in another part of central Athens, with several people wounded there, police said, adding that authorities had found the shotgun.

Television footage showed ambulance crews taking at least three people from the court to waiting ambulances.

The head of the Athens Judicial Employees Union, Stratis Dounias, said that initial information indicated that the man had shot at the floor inside one of the offices in the court building.

At least three female court employees were slightly wounded by ricocheting shotgun pellets, while media reports said that a fourth female employee was taken to hospital without physical injuries.

The motive for the shooting was unclear. State broadcaster ERT said that the gunman had reportedly left envelopes with documents after the shooting at the court, saying those were the reasons for his actions.

Alexandros Varveris, head of the National Social Security Fund known by its Greek acronym EFKA, said the gunman had gone to the fourth floor of the social security fund’s offices in the Kerameikos area of central Athens and opened fire after calling out to an employee to duck.

His shot hit another employee, who was wounded in the leg, Mr Varveris said, adding that the gunman had been wearing a trench coat under which he had hidden the shotgun.

“He went in, went up to the fourth floor, raised his shotgun, told an employee to duck, and hit another one,” Mr Varveris told ERT radio. He said the gunman did not appear to specifically target the employee he hit.

The wounded employee was taken to hospital after police applied a tourniquet to his leg at the scene.

Gun violence is relatively rare in Greece, where firearm ownership is allowed but tightly regulated.