A shot from the weapon of a 38 year old policeman injured a 32 year old private bodyguard in front of the US ambassador’s home in Athens Daniel Speckhard, on 15 Timoleondos Vasi Street behind the American embassy. The injured man is in critical condition in the Navy Hospital, which is close by the embassy. According to the information we have right now, the bullet got him in the throat. The shooting at Daniel Speckhard’s home shocked the Greek police. The American embassy described the case as a “tragic incident” but stresses that the circumstances are being investigated carefully.

The incident happened a little before 12:00pm. According to primary information the shot was due to detonation of the policeman’s weapon, who was at the police guardhouse across from the ambassador’s house. The case is taken by the FBI with cooperation of the Greek police. The security of the ambassador’s home is taken by the private firm “Security” and the injured bodyguard is its employee. The region around the ambassador’s house and the US embassy is closed off by many police officers and the crime scene is being investigated by higher employees of the Greek police.

The policeman who shot at the bodyguard was taken to the neighboring police station, where is testifying right now. An interesting fact to remind is that an involuntary detonation of a police gun in front of the ambassador’s house is not happening for the first time. A similar incident happened in December 2007, thankfully without victims.