Greek Roma leaders urge calm after teen shot by police dies

By COSTAS KANTOURIS
Associated Press

THESSALONIKI, Greece (AP) — Thousands of protesters are marching through the northern Greek city of Thessaloniki and Athens, as Roma community leaders appeal for calm after the death of a Roma teenager. The 16-year-old had been shot in the head during a police chase last week over an allegedly unpaid gas station bill. The police officer involved is under house arrest pending a decision on whether to remand him in custody pending trial. Police have said the teenager tried to ram the motorcycles chasing him, and the officer has said he fired because he feared his colleagues’ lives were in danger but didn’t aim for the driver. The shooting prompted days of often violent protests in Thessaloniki, Athens and other parts of Greece.