Police and ambulances rushed to the offices of Karnessis family-controlled tanker owner European Navigation in Athens on Monday after a former employee shot three people dead before killing himself.
The victims included Maria Karnessis, sister of the company’s founder, Spyros Karnessis; managing director Antonios Vlassakis, the husband of Karnessis’s other sister, Despina; and a former captain and employee in the accounting department, Elias Koukoularis.
The gunman, identified as a 76-year-old Egyptian national known as “Aris”, had recently been terminated from his position at the company and had been for years a caretaker for the Karnessis family.
Local sources, citing eyewitnesses, said the shooter was armed with two guns and only targeted senior management, allowing other staff members to escape. Spyros Karnessis was not at the office. His sister Despina was also on the premises but was able to avoid the gunman, who was later found dead in the building’s basement.
Greek authorities are currently looking into the incident and searching for the motive behind this unusual act of gun violence in a nation where strict gun laws are in place. The Karnessis family has been embroiled in a legal battle wherein Vlassakis and Spyros’s sisters alleged Spyros fraudulently and deceptively appropriated millions of dollars from joint accounts.
European Navigation was established in 1979. The company manages product and chemical carriers along with two suezmax shuttle tankers.
So sad to hear – Seneseless 🙁