Man kills himself after shooting in-law

A DISPUTE over a seat on the Irrigation Board of Arakapas village led a man to shoot his in-law before turning the gun on himself and committing suicide.

Yesterday at 8.30am, Vassos Charalambous, 52, shot his in-law, 61-year-old Nikos Georgiou-Sfyri with a shotgun at the victim’s house at Arakapas in the Limassol district.
Charalambous shot the victim twice in the back, and thinking he had killed him, turned the gun on himself and committed suicide.

Although seriously wounded, Georgiou-Sfyri was not killed. He was transferred to Limassol General Hospital, where he is being kept in for treatment. He sustained a heavy wound to the shoulder and his condition is serious, but not critical.

The two men had been arguing over the last few days, over who would take the post of treasurer on their village’s Irrigation Board. The board’s elections, scheduled for the evening before the tragedy, had been cancelled due to the tension between the two men.
Commenting, Limassol Police Director Tasos Economides said police were investigating the case. “The events took place at 8.30am on Friday at Arakapas village: two men from the village, in their effort to solve a personal dispute, met at the victim’s house. During a heated conversation, Chralambous went out of the house, took out a shotgun from his car and shot the victim.

“It is a shame that human lives are lost for such trivial matters,” Economides added.

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