Police: dead suspect involved in shootout is Greek convict

ATHENS, Greece – A Greek police official says a suspect who died following a shootout with police officers in Athens was a Greek convict serving a life sentence for murder. Police initially said the man was believed to be a migrant.

The official, speaking on condition of anonymity because the case is still under investigation, said Saturday that fingerprints of the dead man matched those of the man convicted of murdering a woman while robbing a bakery in 2004.

The 38-year-old man, whose name was not released by police, was on parole but had not reported back to prison on Dec. 6.

The official said the suspect was stopped for a routine check by a police patrol, and, when asked for his papers, drew a gun and fired three times, slightly wounding an officer in the shoulder. Police returned fire but the suspect fled, only to be found dead from a head wound minutes later.

Police believe the wound was self-inflicted, but tests were being conducted to see whether he was hit by a policeman’s gun, the official said.