Man Shot By Greek Police After 'decapitating Girlfriend'

A 31-year-old Greek man accused of beheading his girlfriend with a cleaver is in critical condition after being shot by police, the country's health ministry said today.

Restaurant cook Thanassis Arvanitis allegedly severed the head of his 25-year-old girlfriend yesterday on the island of Santorini.

Arvanitis was shot three times by police while trying to flee. He had initially agreed to surrender to officers, but then attacked one with the cleaver and tried to escape in a patrol car.

Three bystanders were injured in the clash in Bourboulos, near the island's main town of Fira. A 21-year-old Greek tourist was hit by a ricocheting police bullet, while the suspect crashed into an oncoming motorbike, injuring two doctors, both aged 26.

Arvanitis and the three bystanders, all women, were being treated in a state hospital in Athens. The two doctors were making a good recovery after suffering leg injuries, said health minister Dimitris Avramopoulos. The tourist was in stable condition. The injured policeman received treatment for facial wounds on Santorini.

Arvantis killed his girlfriend following an argument. "The (suspect) slaughtered their dog and threw it out of their home and onto the street and proceeded to kill the woman ... totally severing her head," a statement from the South Aegean police department said.

"The attacker walked around the village carrying the head of the victim in one hand and the cleaver in the other."

"It's hard to believe that people like this circulate among us," said Santorini's mayor, Angelos Roussos.