Two individuals have lost their lives and a minimum of six others sustained injuries during an incident involving gunfire that occurred on Saturday on the island of Crete in Greece.
The event unfolded just after 11 am and was triggered by a longstanding familial conflict in the village of Vorizia, situated 32 miles to the south of the major city of Heraklion on the island.
Police confirmed that a 39-year-old man and a 56-year-old woman were the two victims who died as a result of the shooting. Additionally, six other individuals were swiftly transported to nearby hospitals with injuries of varying degrees of severity, as per a statement from the local emergency services, EKAB.
Two injured men are currently hospitalized and being monitored under guard, with authorities conducting an investigation into their involvement in the armed altercation, the police reported.
Following the gunfight, a significant response was mobilized by security forces and emergency personnel to the small mountainous village, where preliminary investigations have been initiated by the authorities.
Local media suggests that this incident is the latest episode in an ongoing feud between two local families and comes in the wake of an explosion that occurred at a house under construction on Friday night, where fortunately no injuries were reported.
According to reports from Greek public broadcaster ERT, the two families had previously clashed over grazing lands, a dispute that was resolved through private mediation, a common practice in rural regions of Crete. Tensions reignited last year when a member of one family purchased land to construct a house within an area predominantly controlled by the other family, local sources disclosed.
Reportedly, the house where the explosion took place on Friday was built on this contested piece of land.
