Lifer suspected in Ayia Napa shooting

A Greek man serving a life sentence in Nicosia Central Prisons has been remanded in custody for eight days in connection with Sunday’s Ayia Napa shooting.

On Friday morning, a message on Twitter by Cyprus Police said the man was detained Thursday late at night on charges of attempted murder. He later appeared in court where he was ordered in remanded custody for eight days.

Police sources told Knews that a 37-year-old convict, who was serving five consecutive life sentences in a Nicosia jail cell, was arrested on Thursday night on suspicion that he directred last weekend's Ayia Napa shooting that left four people injured.

The suspect, a Greek national who is the second person detained in the case, is accused of collaborating with a third individual, who has been identified by police. 

Previously, a 38-year-old Greek Cypriot from Paphos was remanded in custody as the alleged shooter, following his arrest in Larnaca two days after the shooting. He initially denied any involvement in the case while reports later said he admitted having communication with someone through a social media app. Authorities believe that someone was in fact the convicted felon while nothing incriminating was found during a search in his prison cell.

Police are investigating a shooting that took place Sunday early morning outside the Liquid Café Bar on Krio Nero Avenue, with security camera footage showing a shooter firing 25 bullets into the establishment, wounding three men and one woman.

The intended target, believed to be Costas Kritikos, a local businessman and former chairman Ayia Napa FC, had left the place minutes prior to the shooting after sensing something was off. 

Investigators said from the very beginning that they believed the shooter did not act alone, vowing to get to the bottom of the case amid public criticism that organized crime is getting out of hand.

Reports say the second suspect was convicted of shooting and killing five others in Ayia Napa in 2012, while the intended target in that attack was killed later by hired assassins.

It was not immediately clear whether crime investigators believed the latest incident was revenge or part of a bigger plot to take out targets in the criminal underworld.