ATHENS – Seven Greek police officers who fired shots at the driver of a car who tried to ram them in an incident after a car chase were charged with intentional homicide after a 20-year-old man died. A teenager was also injured.

It happened in the Perama area of Piraeus, Kathimerini reporting the officers of the DIAS motorcycle-riding unit signalled the driver of a car which they suspected was stolen to stop for a check, but the driver sped off.

The chase ended when the drifter was said to to have turned the car toward the police pursuers and tried to run them over, no explanation why the officers were charged or if they claimed self-defense.

Officers started shooting towards the car, killing the driver and wounding a 16-year-old passenger, while a third man inside the vehicle managed to escape and is wanted by police. Six officers were also hurt, police said.

Initial evidence in the ongoing investigation indicate that most of the seven officers involved in the bloody incident fired shots against the suspects, the paper said, with an initial autopsy showing the victim hit with at least one bullet.

In a video filmed by a witness from a distance captured the sound of what appeared to be at least 20 gunshots being fired at the scene, the report added.

A separate case file was opened for the injured passenger and the man who fled the scene who could face charges for attempted homicide. Police sources said the man killed had been arrested at the age of 14 for thefts.