ATHENS, Greece – A 31-year-old man killed his girlfriend on the Greek island of Santorini on Sunday, beheaded her, then fled in a patrol car, a local official said.
During the ensuing chase, the suspect was shot five times by police and ran over two women doctors who were riding a motorcycle before he was caught, the official said.
The suspect, Athanassios Arvanitis, a cook at a local restaurant, is undergoing surgery at an island hospital, said Chrysanthos Roussos, head of the Santorini district on the island.
Neighbors said that, following a heated argument, Arvanitis beheaded his girlfriend's dog with a butcher knife, then killed and beheaded the woman.
The victim, 25-year-old Adamantia Karkali, worked as a teacher at a local village, Angelos Roussos, the mayor of Thira, the island's main town, was quoted as saying by TV station Antenna. Angelos Roussos and Chrysanthos Roussos are not related.
Initially, Arvanitis roamed the village of Vourvoulos exhibiting the woman's head, neighbors said. Townspeople said they locked themselves in their homes and called the police.
When a policeman tried to handcuff him, the suspect knifed the officer and flung the victim's head into a patrol car, Roussos said. The policeman was only slightly injured, police said.
Arvanitis then made off in a second patrol car and ran over the motorcycle before he was caught, Roussos said. One of the two doctors suffered multiple fractures, Roussos said. The other was uninjured.
As the police fired at Arvanitis to stop him, a stray bullet hit a woman bystander, injuring her slightly, police said.
Get all the stories you need-to-know from the most powerful name in news delivered first thing every morning to your inbox