Kiosk owner killed, pharmacist injured in two hold-ups

A 45-year-old kiosk owner was gunned down in the early hours of Tuesday in the Ano Liossia district of Athens by robbers wielding a Kalashnikov rifle.

Police immediately launched a manhunt for the gunmen, who were still at large at noon on Tuesday.

The gunmen attempted to hold-up the kiosk owner at about 1:30 a.m., but the victim resisted and fired at them with a hunting rifle. The gunmen retaliated and fired nine shots against the victim, injuring him fatally, before speeding off in a blue car that later proved to be stolen.

The car was spotted at dawn Tuesday and was chased by police patrol cars and motorcycles, but the gunmen abandoned the car and escaped on foot.

Police surmise that robbery was the motive, since all money had been removed from the kiosk, while police also found cell phone cards and cigarettes scattered in the vicinity.

Earlier, two gunmen stormed a pharmacy in Maroussi on Monday night and injured the pharmacist lightly in the shoulder during their escape. The pharmacist’s mother, who was in the pharmacy at the time of the hold-up, grabbed one of the robbers and pulled off his mask, while the son gave chase to the gunmen outside, where one of the gunmen shot him twice before escaping.