An 89-year-old man has been arrested after allegedly wounding five people in two separate shootings in Athens, with his lawyer claiming the attacks were an act of “protest and despair” against Greek public services.
The man reportedly opened fire with a shotgun at a branch of Greece’s EFKA social security agency, injuring an employee in the leg. He then travelled by taxi to a court building where he discharged several more shots, lightly wounding four female court clerks.
He was later apprehended at a hotel in Patras, approximately 200 km (124 miles) from the capital. His lawyer, Vassilis Noulezas, told Reuters: “It was an act of protest and despair.”
Mr Noulezas added that the man had worked for 40 years as an engineer in Chicago, had previously been hospitalised at a psychiatric clinic in Athens, and had his application for a supplementary pension in Greece rejected.
A public prosecutor has since charged the man with attempted murder and illegal possession of a gun.
Citizen Protection Minister Michalis Chrysochoidis acknowledged security gaps at some court buildings but maintained that Greece remained a safe country overall.
Meanwhile, EFKA workers staged a walkout on Wednesday to protest security concerns following the incident, which they described as another manifestation of “people’s frustration” over understaffed public services.