Cypriot authorities have arrested a man who might have a connection to an attack in a coffee shop in the town of Ayia Napa.
Local news station Antenna Cyprus claims that the suspect is Greek-Cypriot, known to the authorities previously for past cases related to drugs. The police are investigating his house and vehicles, with the suspect expected to appear before court today.
Target and motive of the attack still to determined
The motives behind the attack, and the actual target remain unclear. One of the scenarios the police are investigating is that a 53 year old entrepreneur, who left the site of the attack roughly 20 minutes before the gunman arrived, might be the actual target.
‘’Our investigation covers a wide range of interrogations and statements but it is part of the scope of the case. Whether this particular person actually is the target of the attack’’, said police spokesman Andreas Konstantinou.
How the attack unfolded
The event itself seems taken out of a movie. The attack took place during the early hours of Sunday, when a masked man holding an assault rifle opened fire in the people inside a coffee shop. The weapon was later found discarded 200 meters away from the scene of the crime.
The attack did not leave any dead, but four people, a Greek woman aged 26 and 3 Greek – Cypriot men, two aged 38 and one aged 32 were injured. The police statement says the state of the victims remains serious but not life threatening.
