How 89-year-old pensioner went on shooting rampage in Athens, injuring 5

A double shooting incident in Greece's Athens has reportedly left at least five people injured.

An 89-year-old pensioner locally identified as a garbage collector from the Athens area was held by police in Patras, Greece, the Independent reported. He was arrested carrying a loaded .38 revolver at a hotel.

The gunman carried out a double shooting- first at a branch of Greece’s social security agency, known as EFKA, in the Kerameikos area and then reportedly at a court building. The shooter was held for about six hours following the first reports of an attack on a social security office in the city.

Authorities have yet to confirm the motive of the shooting; however, local reports suggest that he lost a pension case in court.

We take a look.

What happened?

According to police, on Tuesday (April 28), the gunman initially fired shots at a branch of the National Social Security Fund (EFKA) in Kato Petralona, injuring an employee in the leg.

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Alexandros Varveris, head of EFKA, asserted that the shooter subsequently went to the fourth floor of the social security fund’s offices in the Kerameikos area of central Athens. He then began shooting after warning an employee to take cover.

The shot wounded another employee in the leg, Varveris recounted. Adding that the shooter was wearing a trench coat under which he had concealed the weapon. But he did not mean to specifically target the employee he hit.

Varveris told ERT radio, "He went in, went up to the fourth floor, raised his shotgun, told an employee to duck, and hit another one,” Independent reported.

Security footage from a nearby shop revealed a man dressed in dark clothing approaching, holding what looked like a short-barrelled shotgun in his right hand.

How did he carry out the second shooting?

The gunman then took a taxi to reach a court building, where he fired multiple shots, officials said.

At least three female court staff members sustained minor injuries from ricocheting shotgun pellets at the courthouse, while media reports indicated that a fourth employee was taken to the hospital without physical injuries.

Stratis Dounias, head of the judiciary employees' union in Athens, said, "Four women working at the small claims court were slightly injured," BBC reported, citing a broadcaster.

"I saw the whole thing... he was firing at the ground," one eyewitness recounted the ordeal to the state news agency AMNA, BBC reported.

Independent reported citing Greek outlet iEidiseis that the suspect also left a stack of files at the courthouse alongside the gun. He screamed as he left: “Here you will find the answers to what happened!”

What's the main cause of shooting?

A Greek newspaper, Protothema, reported that the man had been receiving pensions from the US and Germany and had also applied for eligibility in Greece. His application was reportedly rejected in 2015, and an appeal was denied two years later. His ties to the US remain unclear.

Several local media reports suggest that he had lost a court case regarding the awarding of his pension, due to which he carried out the shooting. However, the police have yet to make the motive for the attack clear.

According to Greek outlet Ethnos, a relative of the gunman contacted officials during the second shooting and helped identify him. They also reportedly informed police that the attacker had previously been admitted to a psychiatric facility.

According to Protothema, police sources say that the attacks appeared to have been planned, with the man leaving behind letters addressed to newspapers.

The Independent accessed a letter dated April 25 that said, "You will read in the newspapers below, the thick folder with over 150 documents, tomorrow.”

According to an Athens-based outlet, Parapolitika's unnamed sources, the shooter told a taxi driver on Monday, which was a day before the attack: “You’ll see what I’ll do tomorrow."

"The 89-year-old man sought in connection with today’s armed incidents in Athens has been located and apprehended a short while ago in the area of Patra by police officers of the Hellenic Police," a police spokesperson told The Independent.

With inputs from agencies