Investigators from the Hellenic Police, EL.AS., are working to establish the circumstances surrounding the killing of a 17-year-old boy in the southern Athenian neighbourhood of Kallithea on Wednesday night, June 24.

The suspect has been arrested and has confessed to the crime. Although police initially examined the possibility that the incident may have been linked to football fan rivalry, that scenario is now being ruled out, as both the suspect and the victim were reportedly wearing jerseys of the same team. The motive behind the altercation remains unclear.

The victim is understood to have sustained a stab wound to the chest during a violent confrontation outside an apartment building on Megaloupoleos Street.

Police found a knife at the scene. However, according to the suspect, it was not the weapon used in the attack, as he claimed he threw that knife into a rubbish bin after the altercation.

An ambulance from EKAB, Greece’s emergency medical service, rushed to the scene and took the teenager to Ippokratio Hospital in a serious condition. Despite doctors’ efforts, he later died of his injuries.

Thirteen people have been detained in connection with the case, four of whom are expected to be formally arrested.

What has also raised concern is that, so far, no one has come forward to claim the victim.

A local resident told protothema.gr that she heard someone shouting for help before seeing a young man lying on the pavement below her home, with police officers trying to give him first aid.

“He was young, no older than 18. There were quite a few people around him, but the boy was not speaking. He was unconscious. There was also a young man standing next to him. I was woken by cries of ‘Help! Help!’,” she said.

Other residents in the area said that, minutes before the teenager was fatally injured, a fight had broken out in the park at the junction of Kremou and Megaloupoleos Streets. The altercation was reportedly followed by a chase involving young people through the surrounding streets.

The suspect, who has been identified, arrested and has confessed, is accused of stabbing the 17-year-old during the incident.