Ten arrests made over Lakatamia attempted murder (Updated)

Police on Saturday announced a total of ten arrests in connection with an attempted murder which was carried out on Tuesday.

Eight arrests were announced early on Saturday morning, while the other two arrests were announced later in the day.The arrestees are all male, with the oldest aged 49 and the youngest aged 21.

In addition to the arrests, police said a number of houses have been searched and evidence has been taken in conjunction with the case.

All nine are now expected to be taken to the Nicosia district court in due course to be remanded.

Speaking on Saturday, police spokesman Christos Andreou said, “it is a difficult and complex case.”

He added that the investigations are still in a “very early stage”, but that a “very large amount of evidence has been obtained” from searches of the houses and apartments in which the men arrested lived.

He said the evidence “is currently being evaluated and will be sent for scientific examinations.”

He said police have so far been unable to find the weapon used in the attempted murder, but that “for this reason, the people who have been arrested will certainly be interrogated, so we can come to the conclusion of what exactly happened, what the motive is, and who are involved.”

The attempted murder took place in Nicosia’s Lakatamia suburb in broad daylight on Tuesday, with a 34-year-old man who was riding a motorcycle being shot in the neck by a man who was a passenger on another motorcycle.

The man who was shot was taken to the Nicosia general hospital. He is reportedly “well known” to police.

Police believe the man who was shot was being followed and that the other motorcycle’s rider was waiting for him to pass to shoot him.

An eyewitness told news website the Cyprus Times that he was driving behind the man and saw him drop to the ground in a pool of blood.

“I saw him as he fell to the ground. He was in front me, I stopped. He was in a pool of blood. He was wearing a helmet; I was talking to him asking him if he’s ok but he couldn’t respond,” the eyewitness said.

“Initially I didn’t understand what happened. Another driver from across the road shouted it had been a shooting. I then saw three bullet casings.”