The man thought responsible for the killing of at least 50 people in the unprecedented terrorist attack in New Zealand that stunned the nation and the world, visited Greece twice, local media reported on Saturday.
The suspect, Brenton Harrison Tarrant, who appeared in court Saturday, is believed to have visited Greece twice in 2016, greek media reported.
In early 2016, the Australian national arrived in Athens from Cairo and then headed to Bucharest. Afterwards, he returned to Cairo via Athens.
Tarrant’s second trip to Greece was in March 2016 and he stayed in Greece for about 15 days, SKAI said, citing Interpol.
According to the Alpha broadcaster, Greek authorities know that the shooter arrived at Athens International Airport.
They are now trying to find out whether he visited any other cities in Greece.
Greek authorities believe that the killer could have traveled to Greek cities by bus. Tarrant was known to have made a long trip across the Balkans by bus.
The broadcaster notes that one word on the shooter’s rifle, in particular, attracted the attention of authorities — Lepanto, the name of the modern city of Nafpaktos, where the famous naval Battle of Lepanto took place in 1571.
In the battle, a fleet of the Holy League, led by the Venetian Republic and the Spanish Empire, inflicted a major defeat on the fleet of the Ottoman Empire.
