Shootout in town square
Residents of Malesina, some 125 kilometers northwest of Athens, were forced to duck for cover yesterday morning as bank robbers armed with a Kalashnikov rifle exchanged fire with police officers in the town’s main square. The two robbers, one brandishing a handgun and the other an AK-47, were in the process of holding up a branch of the National Bank when two police officers on routine patrol passed by the bank in their vehicle. One of the robbers immediately fired at the car, hitting it several times without injuring either of the policemen. The officers got out of the vehicle and, once they had found some cover, started firing back at the two robbers. Onlookers ran into stores and buildings to dodge the hail of bullets. Despite the exchange of fire, the robbers were able to grab 150,000 euros in cash from the bank’s safe and drive off in a black Seat Ibiza, which was later found in the nearby village of Larymna.
