The thriller that paralyzed downtown Athens has finally come to an end with the arrest of the 89-year-old man who, on Tuesday morning, opened fire at the EFKA and the Court of Appeals, injuring a total of five people. The elderly man was arrested in Patras, shortly after sending an angry letter to the media explaining the motives behind his unprecedented attacks.
The letter and the legal dispute with IKA
In his letter, the 89-year-old (P.K., born in 1937 in Messinia) describes in harsh terms his long-standing dispute with the Greek social security system and the courts. As he notes, although he worked abroad (in Berlin and Chicago) and quickly began receiving his pensions from the U.S. and Germany, in Greece he encountered a «wall.».
The perpetrator claims that IKA employees verbally abused him, calling him a «janissary,» and accuses them of «forgery and sabotage» against him. His text concludes with a chilling preview of his actions: «The public services, the Greek courts, and the Greek Social Security Agency (IKA) treated me here in Greece […] like a stray dog that gets kicked around by the cops. And I, the dog, have now gone mad—I’m rabid—and one day I’ll go to their offices and bite them, so they’ll go mad too.», signing as «The Rabid One.».
A Chronology of the Two Armed Attacks
The first attack took place on Tuesday morning at the EFKA office in Kerameikos. The 89-year-old man went up to the fourth floor armed, placed his shotgun on the counter, ordered one employee to bend over, and shot another employee in the leg. Immediately afterward, he was caught on video walking out of the building completely unperturbed and crossing Keiradon Street.
Shortly afterward, he «struck» again, this time on the ground floor of the Court of Appeals on Loukareos Street. He burst into Office 23 of the Court of First Instance, fired shots, slightly wounding four employees, and fled. He left behind the gun and envelopes containing newspaper clippings which, according to him, explained the reasons for the attack.
The Arrest in Patras and the Unanswered Questions
The fact that the 89-year-old managed to escape from both locations of the attacks, in the heart of the capital, has raised serious questions about the authorities’ response, as the perpetrator remained at large as an active threat for hours.
Finally, after six hours, he was located and arrested at noon at a central hotel in Patras, next to the KTEL bus station. Upon his arrest, police found a loaded .38-caliber revolver on him. According to initial information from the Hellenic Police, the 89-year-old’s ultimate goal was to flee to Italy.
