Police have arrested wanted fugitive Andreas Onoufriou in Larnaca after being on the run since April 25.
According to state radio, police received a tip off that Onoufriou was in the Layia area of Larnaca and had spotted him with his four-year-old son outside his house. Upon seeing the police, Onoufriou fired his gun at them and then proceeded to run away, with his gun in one hand and his son in the other.
At one point, police officers fired two warning shots into the air at which point Onoufriou let go of his son and attempted to escape on foot. He was eventually overpowered by police officers and placed under arrest. Early reports say that neither the child, the police or 63-year-old Onoufriou were injured.
Onoufriou has been on the run ever since he fired his army-issued G-3 assault rifle into the air after officers arrived at the door of his Limassol apartment and demanded to enter back on April 25. According to police, investigators said they were acting on information that he had fire arms in his home and that he had recently been involved in the armed robbery of a bank and that some of the stolen money was still in his possession.
But former convict Onoufriou, who has a child with a Vietnamese woman, managed to give them the slip and a nationwide manhunt had got underway. Late on Monday afternoon, Onoufriou picked up his son from sisters’ home where he had been staying.
Onoufriou’s criminal activities in the past have made him well-known throughout Cyprus.
Back in 1998, Onoufriou was jailed for 18 years for the attempted murder of a judge and his daughter.
Limassol judge Michalis Mavronicolas and his five-year-old daughter at the time suffered injuries after the bomb detonated beneath his car. The Criminal Court at the time had heard that their lives were spared “by sheer luck”.
The court had also heard how the intended victim had previously presided over a debt-settling dispute in which Onoufriou was involved.
Last year, Onoufriou and two other men were arrested on suspicion of plotting to assassinate former attorney general Petros Clerides using a disposable light anti-tank weapon. The charges were later dropped due to lack of evidence.

Cyprus Weekly