A shocking crime took place in broad daylight in an Athens suburb on Wednesday morning when a club bouncer was murdered taking his 11-year-old son to school.
Vasilis Grivas, 46, a former bodybuilder, had just dropped his son in front of the 2nd Elementary school in Glika Nera (an outer eastern suburb of Athens) and was about to drive off when a man approached him from his car’s driver’s side and shot at him eight times through the window. One of the bullets ricocheted and injured a woman, 37, who had also just dropped her child at school. She was transferred to hospital where she underwent surgery and is now out of danger.
Dozens of other parents and students were around, as it was school assembly time. According to witnesses, the victim’s child, who had just gotten out of the car and was heading for class, ran to his teacher crying and asked for help.
The killer is said to have three accomplices. Another man was waiting for him in a car, which was foundburnt out 600m from the scene. According to reports, two other men were waiting there and they all fled the scene of the crime on motorcycles.
Authorities believe that the murder was an execution ordered by the ‘Greek mafia’. The victim was believed to be associated with organised crime – he was part of an investigation on an extortion ring a few years ago and police believe that his death is related to a recent attempted murder of a convict in prison, or the murder of another former bodybuilder and bar owner the previous week.