A 58-year-old man on Thursday was remanded in police custody for eight days suspected of premeditated and attempted murder after shooting his neighbour dead and injuring the father during a row over parking.
A Nicosia district court was told by police the man had admitted to shooting dead his 29-year-old neighbour and injuring the 52-year-old father.
The father is currently in a medically induced coma at Nicosia General Hospital after being shot in the chest.
“We had a fight, and I shot them,” the suspect was quoted as saying by police.
On Wednesday morning, in Yeri, a Nicosia suburb, the suspect shot his neighbour’s son in the head and injured the victim’s father with a hunting gun.
The victim was Stavros Antoniou, aged 29 and his father Fangiskos.
According to reports, the shooter got into a heated argument over a parking space with his 52-year-old neighbour, Fangiskos Antoniou.
The victim had started improving the ramp at the entrance of his father’s garage so that his vehicle could enter easier.
This seems to have annoyed the suspect who had protested, claiming the work was causing a nuisance to the neighbourhood.
On Wednesday, when the father and son woke up, they found a box of tomatoes in their garage; they asked their neighbour why he had placed them in their entrance.
A fierce argument broke out, with the 58-year-old grabbing a stick to attack the father.
The 29-year-old intervened, and the suspect left the scene.
He returned with his hunting gun, which he fired at the son, killing with a headshot and seriously injuring his father in the chest.
The police said the suspect was arrested while trying to escape his house through the backdoor, still holding the hunting gun.
Initially, the suspect refused to give himself up but was later talked into stepping down by armed officers called to the scene.
Reportedly the incident took place in front of the victim’s mother, who was begging the suspect to lower the gun.
Police are investigating a case of premeditated murder and attempted murder.
Officers have taken statements from neighbours who reported hearing the argument and an eyewitness who saw the incident unfold.
