A 27-year-old woman was yesterday hospitalized after being shot by a motorcycle-borne thief who snatched her bag in northern Athens.

The woman had just left a bank Nea Philadelphia shortly after 11 a.m. when two men on a motorcycle pulled up beside her and grabbed her bag, which contained 2,000 euros. When the woman refused to let go and started screaming, the passenger pulled out a gun and shot at her three times.

One bullet grazed the woman’s shoulder, while the other two pierced the material of her coat. The woman also sustained a light cranial fracture, believed to have been caused by the butt of the gun.

Police, who expressed their surprise at the violent reaction of the thief, said the duo had probably been observing bank customers and realized the 27-year-old was carrying a large sum of money.