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An 89-year-old gunman allegedly opened fire inside two Athens government buildings Tuesday, wounding at least four people in a rare outbreak of violence that rattled Greece’s tightly controlled gun landscape and ended with his arrest hours later.
Police said the suspect first stormed a social security office, went up to the fourth floor and fired, striking an employee in the leg. Officials said the gunman warned one worker to duck before pulling the trigger, though he didn’t appear to specifically target the employee he hit.
“He went in, went up to the fourth floor, raised his shotgun, told an employee to duck and hit another one,” Alexandros Varveris, head of Greece’s National Social Security Fund, told state broadcaster ERT radio.
The wounded man was treated at the scene, but the suspect fled and later opened fire again inside a courthouse in another part of the city, where several people were wounded.
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People gather outside a courthouse in Athens after a gunman opened fire, leaving several wounded on Tuesday, April 28, 2026. (Petros Giannakouris/AP)
Authorities said at least three women, all court employees, suffered minor injuries from ricocheting pellets, while media reported that a fourth woman was taken to a hospital as a precaution.
People leave a courthouse after a gunman opened fire, wounding at least four, in Athens on Tuesday, April 28, 2026. (Petros Giannakouris/AP)
Surveillance video aired by local media showed a man calmly walking down the street carrying what appeared to be a short-barreled shotgun.
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Police later arrested the suspect near the city of Patra, about 130 miles west of Athens, and recovered the weapon.
A policeman speaks with a woman outside a courthouse in Athens after a gunman opened fire, wounding several people, on April 28, 2026. (Petros Giannakouris/AP)
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The motive remains unclear, though state media reported the man left documents behind at the courthouse outlining his grievances.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.