A migrant stopped for a routine check by police in Athens opened fire on officers, wounding one before apparently turning the gun on himself.
The man was questioned by a motorcycle patrol, who asked to see his papers. Instead he opened fire, striking one officer in the shoulder before fleeing as the officers returned fire.
He was found dead a short while later with a gunshot wound to the head, which was reportedly self inflicted, the Daily Mail has reported.
Athens Police have refused to reveal whether he was fatally wounded by the police officers’ returning fire.
The incident comes as an Albanian migrant stabbed two men in Vienna, killing one and severely wounding the other.
According to reports the men got into a heated dispute outside a bar in the early hours of Friday morning, whereupon the migrant pulled out a knife, stabbing both men repeatedly. He then fled the scene.
More than 62,500 migrants are currently stranded in Greece leading to vast overcrowding at migrant centres, particularly on the Greek islands where demand is currently running at twice the nominal capacity.
European Commission plans to relocate 160,000 migrants from Greece and Italy to other member states have stalled, with just 8,162 migrants relocated under the scheme.
Yet the Commission has decreed that, from mid-March 2017, member states will be able to start returning migrants who first entered the EU via Greece back to that country, as per the terms of the Dublin Agreement which stipulates asylum must be claimed at the point of entry into the EU.
At the same time, Turkey has been accused of “dissolving” migrant camps in the north-west of the country, prompting hundreds of migrants to take to boats and head for Greece.
The Greek Port Authorities are said to have noted that the Turkish coastguard which normally operates in the area has “disappeared”, while officials on Chios and Lesbos say they have noticed a spike in the number of migrants arriving daily.
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