Shocked pedestrians walk past an ambulance where lays the body of an elderly man who commited suicide, shot himself, at Syntagma central square, in front of the Greek Parliament, in Athens, on Wednesday.

The man who killed himself in Syntagma Square in central Athens on Wednesday morning has been identified as a 77-year-old pharmacist.

It has emerged that he left a note criticising the government and explaining his reasons for taking his own life.

“I can’t find another way to react apart from putting a dignified end to things before I start looking through garbage in order to survive and before I become a burden for my child,” the note left by the pensioner said, according to reports.

It is not clear if the 77-year-old had the note with him or whether he left it somewhere for his family. It is not yet known what kind of financial problems the pensioner may have had.

The head of the Attica Pharmacists’ Union, Constantinos Lourantos told Skai radio he knew the man, who was identified as Dimitris Christoulas.

“He was a calm, family man,” said Lourantos.

In the suicide note, Christoulas compares the Greek government to Second World War administration led by army officer Georgios Tsolakoglou that collaborated with Nazi occupiers.

“The Tsolakoglou occupation government has destroyed my chances of survival,” the note said, according to reports.

The pensioner is said to have shot himself next to a tree on a grassy area of busy Syntagma Square, in front of Parliament. The incident occurred shortly before 9 a.m.