«Bullets were falling like rain», says a victim of the attack in Aspropygos where Wild West scenes unfolded with a group of young Roma clashing with ethnic Greeks from the former Soviet Union. Greek police arrested two young men aged 26 and 23 who are involved in the incident, both of whom have serious criminal records including robbery and attempted murder in their “resumes”.
«Five minutes before the kids came inside, because they saw us getting into two cars going up. We entered the store, they were throwing chairs, metal objects and one thing and another and we got into a brawl», one of the protagonists of the incident told STAR TV.
The man said it all started from a misunderstanding on the road: «for me to pass next to him, he goes to open the door provocatively but at that moment I was passing with the truck. And he makes a gesture at me. Then 7-8 Roma come out from inside and one comes provocatively». «Not all Roma are the same, not all people are the same but there are many here inside who are dangerous», he concluded.
Timeline of the Aspropygos shooting
It all started on the afternoon of August 4th within a settlement in Aspropygos, when a 38-year-old Greek national driving a truck along with three other Greek nationals got into an argument with other individuals over a traffic issue. There, they were attacked by the group of people, some of whom were holding metal objects, resulting in their injury while the victims left the scene and went to a nearby location where their company is based.
Shortly after, three individuals including the 26-year-old who has been arrested, approached the said company by vehicle and after getting out shot towards the front of the company resulting in damage to the building, to the victims’ vehicle as well as to an adjacent house.
Immediately, officers from the Crime Investigation Unit of Aspropygos conducted a preliminary investigation resulting in the identification of the two individuals as involved in the incident while with the assistance of officers from the Special Operations Unit they located them in the afternoon hours of August 5th within a settlement in Aspropygos.
Pistol hidden in concrete blocks
Following searches of the two arrested individuals’ homes, the following were found and confiscated:
- pistol with magazine
- replica pistol
- rifle for which theft has been reported from the Nafplio area
- 10 cartridges
It is noted that the pistol and magazine were found carefully hidden between concrete blocks, near a drainage pipe, while the rifle and 10 cartridges were found in a hiding place in the roof of a house.
Serious criminal record for the perpetrators
The two arrested individuals have faced a series of offenses in the past.
Specifically, the 26-year-old in 2025 has been sentenced to 13 years and six months imprisonment as well as a fine of 2,500 euros for theft and robbery as accomplice. He has also been charged this year for violation of Law 2696/1999 “deprivation of driving license”, articles 167 P.C. “violence against officials”, 361 P.C. “insult” and 169 P.C. “disobedience”.
A year before, the young man was charged with theft, dangerous driving and deprivation of driving license while in 2023 he was charged with theft as accomplice and violence against officials.
In 2022 the young man was charged with violation of article 167 P.C. “violence against officials”, 169 P.C. “disobedience” and Law 2696/1999 “deprivation of driving license”, for “theft as accomplice”, for theft, for violation of articles 45, 184 P.C. “incitement to commit crimes, violence or discord as accomplice”.
In 2021 the young man was charged with violation of articles 45, 184 P.C. “incitement to commit crimes, violence or discord as accomplice”, in 2020 for violation of Law 2696/1999 “deprivation of driving license” and in 2019 for violation of articles 45, 372 and 380 P.C. “robbery and theft as accomplice” and Law 2696/99 “Traffic Code”.
For the 22-year-old, the following case files have been formed:
In 2025, for violation of article 361 P.C. “insult”, article 333 P.C. “threat” and article 169 P.C. “disobedience”,
In 2024, for violation of articles 45, 372 P.C. “theft as accomplice”
In 2020, for violation of articles 299 P.C. “premeditated murder”, 380 P.C. “robbery” and Law 2168/93 “on weapons”
The 26-year-old has been imposed with the restrictive condition of appearing on the 1st, 10th and 20th day of each month at the police station of his area, however he failed to do so six times as required. For his part, the 22-year-old has not violated a corresponding restrictive condition.
The two arrested individuals, with the case file against them for the episode in Aspropygos, were brought before the competent prosecutor, while investigations for locating the other involved parties continue.
