athens, greeceAP —
Police in the Greek capital were searching for a gunman, reportedly 89, who opened fire at a social security office and courthouse in central Athens on Tuesday, wounding at least four people.
Police said the gunman was armed with a shotgun and initially fired at the Social Security office, injuring one employee. Officers arrived at the scene and treated the man, but the suspect fled the scene.
Local media showed footage from a security camera believed to be from a local business near the social security office, which showed a man walking calmly across the street with what appeared to be a short-barreled shotgun in his right hand.
The same man is suspected of later opening fire on the first floor of a court building in another part of central Athens, injuring several people, police said, adding that authorities had recovered a shotgun.
Television footage showed paramedics transporting at least three people from the courthouse to waiting ambulances.
Stratis Dunias, head of the Athens Judicial Employees Union, said initial information indicated the man fired into the floor in one of the offices in the court building.
At least three female court employees suffered minor injuries from the ricocheting shotgun bullets, but a fourth female court official was taken to the hospital without injury, according to media reports.
The motive for the shooting was unknown. State broadcaster ERT said the gunman had reportedly left behind an envelope containing documents after shooting at the courthouse, which was the reason for his actions.
Alexandros Barberis, head of the National Social Security Fund, known by its Greek acronym EFKA, said the gunman went to the fourth floor of the Social Security Fund’s offices in the Kerameikos district of central Athens and opened fire after calling on employees to hide.
His shot struck another employee, wounding him in the leg, Barberis said, adding that the gunman was wearing a trench coat and had a shotgun hidden underneath it.
“He went inside, went up to the fourth floor, raised a shotgun and told the employee to duck down and shoot another gun,” Barberis told ERT radio. He said the gunman did not appear to be specifically targeting the employee he hit.
The injured employee was taken to the hospital after police placed a tourniquet on his leg at the scene.
Gun violence is relatively rare in Greece, and firearm ownership is allowed but strictly regulated.
