The 89-year-old shooter who opened fire at two locations in central Athens earlier today, wounding five people, has been arrested in Patras and investigators have uncovered a far more alarming picture than initially reported.
Police located the suspect outside a central hotel in the city after tracing the taxi driver who had driven him from Athens. Roadblocks had been set up at bus stations and transport hubs across the capital from the outset, but the suspect bypassed them entirely by leaving in a private cab.
At the time of his arrest, he was found to be carrying a loaded .38 revolver concealed in the inside pocket of his overcoat. He has been taken to the Patras Police Directorate and will be transferred to the Athens Sub-Directorate for the Investigation and Solving of Crimes, where a formal case file will be compiled ahead of his referral to Justice.
A Wider Plot
The arrest has revealed that Tuesday’s attacks may not have been the end of the suspect’s plans. Among the notes he left behind, he had written of an intention to travel to Strasbourg and carry out an attack on the European Parliament. He was found with his passport, and investigators believe he had been heading to Patras to board a ferry to Italy.
Who Is He?
The shooter spent the greater part of his life in Canada, where he worked and raised a family, before returning permanently to Greece around a decade ago, settling in the Athens neighborhood of Ano Patisia.
At the heart of his grievances was a long-running dispute with EFKA, Greece’s social security agency, the first location he targeted. Neighbors say he had for years been fighting to have his pre-emigration work contributions recognized in order to qualify for a pension, a battle he never won.
Those who knew him describe a stark contrast with the events of today. “A calm man, he’d go to the café, have his coffee, chat with a couple of friends. He would help people,” relatives told reporters. He is said to have once made a personal donation to a local primary school.
His immediate family remains in Canada. His only relatives in Greece were his sister’s children, who would visit him periodically.
The preliminary inquiry is ongoing.
