Former caretaker of shipping company owners’ home kills three before suicide
Four people died during a shooting incident at a Greek shipping company in the southern Athens suburb of Glyfada on Monday, according to reports.
The gunman entered the building and opened fire, resulting in the deaths of three individuals – two men and a woman – before turning the gun on himself. He was found fatally injured in the basement warehouse, with the murder weapon, a carbine, next to him.
According to witnesses, the perpetrator, in a state of frenzy and brandishing the carbine, shouted, “I’ve come to settle things!”
In a subsequent investigation of the vehicle the gunman used to arrive at the premises, a revolver was recovered.
The perpetrator has been identified as 76-year-old Egyptian national Adel El Bourai, a former employee of the shipping company owners’ residences. According to information, the motives were both personal and professional, as the gunman had recently been made redundant after working for nearly 36 years as a caretaker of the owners’ residences.
While police have not officially disclosed the name of the company involved, reports have identified it as European Navigation.
Among those killed in the gunfire were the company owner’s sister, the company’s CEO, who was married to the owner’s second sister, and the former captain and employee in the company’s accounting department.
The incident prompted a hostage situation. Police, members of the elite counterterrorism unit EKAM, fire engines, and ambulances were stationed outside the building, and police had cordoned off a wider area around it.
“I heard the gunshots, I heard the first two. I headed towards the stairs to see what was happening. I saw two guys coming down; they said, ‘It’s Aris with a gun, he’s shooting.’ Of course, I dashed outside, towards the garden, and made my way out through the back door of the garage,” a witness, identified as a company worker, told journalists outside the building.
Two employees of the company were transferred to the hospital, as they were in a distressed psychological state.
A preliminary investigation is underway by the Department of Homicide and Personal Freedom Crimes of the Attica Security Directorate.
