A 31-year-old man with a knife attacked police at Mandra station in Western Attica. After repeated demands to drop the weapon, one of the officers opened fire.
Later, eyewitness accounts emerged who described in detail the last seconds before the shot.
The incident occurred on September 4 at the Mandra-Idyll police station in Western Attica.
According to Greek Policea 31-year-old citizen of the country came to the police station with a knife, which he began to threaten the employees who were inside.
The police repeatedly and clearly demanded that he drop the knife and follow their instructions.
However, the man refused to comply and continued to move towards the employees.
During the incident, one of the police officers used his service weapon and fired one shot.
The 31-year-old suffered a serious gunshot wound and was taken to hospital by the EKAB team Triasio.
One police officer also received minor injuries.
How the attack began
According to Greek media, the man came to the police station in an extremely excited state.
He was holding a knife, threatened employees and tried to move further into the building.
MEGA reported that at the time of the attack there were several police officers at the station, as well as citizens who had come to do their own business.
According to initial reports, the man was shouting threats at employees.
“I will kill you all.”
The police tried to stop him and prevent him from going into the interior of the station.
The policeman tried to hold the door
Later, new evidence emerged from eyewitnesses who were inside the station at the time of the attack.
A couple who came to get ID cards said they first heard employees screaming.
“We were in the office to issue IDs, and suddenly we heard the police shouting to each other: “If you have a weapon, get it.”
Then, they said, there was a loud blow.
“He broke the door because the police officer was holding it down and trying to stop him from getting in.”
Thus, according to eyewitnesses, the man was not just at the entrance with a knife, but tried to continue moving inside the station, despite the resistance of the employees.
“Shoot, why don’t you shoot?”
Another witness described the immediate final seconds before the shot.
According to him, one of the policemen pointed a weapon at the man and several times demanded to drop the knife.
“The policeman told him, ‘Drop the knife.’ And he answered: “Shoot, why don’t you shoot?”
At the same time, according to the witness, the 31-year-old continued to move towards the employee.
“While the policeman was talking to him, he kept getting closer. Then the employee had to shoot.”
These indications are given Pronews.
The new evidence agrees with the official police version in the main: officers repeatedly demanded that the man drop the knife, but he continued to move threateningly towards them.
One shot
According to the official statement of ΕΛ.ΑΣ., one of the employees fired only one shot.
The first media reports contained different data about the location of the injury: some sources wrote about the abdomen, others about the chest area.
Later publications indicate a serious through-and-through gunshot wound in the torso area.
The EKAB team was immediately called to the scene.
The 31-year-old was taken to Triasio Hospital, where he was admitted under police guard.
A policeman was also injured
One of the police officers was also injured during the attack.
Some media outlets initially reported a stabbing, but subsequent information indicates that the officer suffered minor injuries while trying to hold the door and due to broken glass.
The official police statement does not detail the nature of his injuries.
Psychiatric history reported
Following the incident, Greek media published additional information about the 31-year-old’s past.
According to these data, the man had previously received treatment in a psychiatric institution.
A past suicide attempt is also reported.
In addition, the media claim that he has already come to the attention of the police in connection with threats to neighbors and an episode of domestic violence.
In one such case, according to published information, a man allegedly threatened his partner and her mother with a knife.
This information has so far been provided by the media and is not separately listed in the official police report.
Why new indications are important
New eyewitness accounts significantly complement the original picture of what happened.
In the first hours after the attack, all that was known was that a man with a knife entered the police station, did not comply with the demands of the officers and was then shot.
Now a more detailed sequence of events appears:
- A 31-year-old man came to the station with a knife;
- started threatening employees;
- tried to get inside the building;
- one of the police tried to hold the door;
- the man broke it and continued moving;
- employees repeatedly demanded to drop the knife;
- he refused and continued to approach;
- according to the witness, he himself told the policeman: “Shoot, why don’t you shoot?”;
- After this, one shot was fired.
Police are investigating the circumstances
ΕΛ.ΑΣ. began a preliminary investigation into the incident.
Investigators must review the actions of all participants, statements from employees and citizens who were inside the site, and possible surveillance footage.
The use of service weapons will be checked separately.
However, the emerging testimony of eyewitnesses already gives a more complete picture of why the situation ended with shooting.
Video MEGA
Editorial comment
New eyewitness testimony is important primarily because it removes the initial uncertainty surrounding the use of weapons.
Judging by the official version and the stories of citizens, the shot was not preceded by an instant reaction of the policeman, but by an attempt to stop the man without using a firearm.
He was repeatedly ordered to drop the knife. The employee tried to physically prevent him from going any further. After this, the man, according to witnesses, broke the door, continued to approach and actually provoked the policeman to open fire.
If these testimonies are confirmed during the investigation, then the use of weapons no longer looks like a reaction to an abstract threat, but as the last stage of a direct confrontation inside the police station.
However, another question remains: if information about previous psychiatric treatment, a suicide attempt and previous episodes of aggressive behavior is confirmed, then how effective the monitoring and prevention system worked in relation to a person with a similar history.
Now the main difference from the first reports is that the dynamics of the incident itself are becoming clear: the man with the knife did not stop after the warnings, continued to move inside the station and was wounded only after he refused to obey and continued to approach the policeman.
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