Two police officers accused of opening fire during a chase involving a 20-year-old in Argos have been remanded in custody following the conclusion of their testimonies before an examining magistrate. According to reports, the two defendants denied the key elements of the charges against them, maintaining that they had no intention of killing the young man. They also disputed the existence of reckless intent, insisting that the shots were fired as a warning to force the driver to stop.
“The suspect tried to hit us with his car at least twice and had already caused damage to our patrol vehicles. We were at different positions and on the move. The shots were warning shots — to intimidate him and force him to stop so we could detain him. At no point did we aim at the suspect with the intention of injuring him. We were both running.”
The officers’ attorney had argued that the two men acted under extreme pressure during a violent pursuit, in which the driver allegedly performed a series of dangerous maneuvers. According to their account, they fired into the air as a warning, and the injury was most likely caused by a bullet ricochet. For her part, Maria Sfetsou, the attorney representing the 20-year-old’s mother, stated that “the boy has some mild intellectual disability and, as his mother confirmed, he had no weapon on him.” The family is now awaiting official medical and forensic reports that are expected to shed light on the circumstances of the bloody incident.
Argos shooting: The high-speed chase captured frame by frame
Documentary footage of the chase has been made public by MEGA television and its programme “Developments Now,” capturing the dramatic seconds that followed. The video shows the moment the two officers pursue the young man, while the gunshots fired during the incident can be clearly heard. According to the footage, the first siren is audible when the camera timestamp reads 00:54:30, while the first shots are recorded less than a minute later, at 00:55:23.
A total of 13 shell casings were recovered at the scene; however, as the video footage obtained by MEGA demonstrates, at least 21 shots were fired. The exchange captured on camera in the seconds immediately after the incident reveals the chaos that ensued. Urgent questions now demand answers: what really happened during those fateful seconds in Argos.
20-year-old remains in critical condition
The young man is currently hospitalized in critical condition in the Intensive Care Unit of KAT hospital in Athens. The precise sequence of events at the abandoned building near the Argos national road service lane is expected to be clarified through ballistic and forensic examination, the results of which are considered pivotal to the case.
