ROBBER KILLED IN SHOOTOUT

Kathimerini, Greece
March 14 2006

A bank heist in central Athens went awry yesterday as one of the two
armed men involved in the holdup accidentally shot dead his accomplice
in their attempt to get away, police said.

The pair entered a branch of Alpha Bank on Acharnon Street at about
midday and had begun their getaway from the branch with around 15,000
euros in cash.

However, a plumber working at the bank tried to stop the thieves and
wrestled with one of the two armed men.

In a bid to free up his accomplice, the other armed man shot and
injured the plumber in the leg.

However, a second bullet hit and killed his partner.

The man then escaped the bank on foot but was later arrested as a
police manhunt was immediately launched by an off-duty law enforcement
officer in the area.

Police identified the suspect killed as Constantinos Komesides,
an Armenian national, and the second man as Nikiforos Soilemetzides
from Kazakhstan.

They are both believed to have been involved in a number of bank
robberies in the past.