ATHENS (AP): Police were bracing for more violence at demonstrations planned on Monday across Greece to protest the fatal police shooting of a 15-year-old boy in Athens.
Dozens of stores, banks and cars were torched or smashed in weekend rioting after the teenager was shot late Saturday in circumstances that remain unclear.
The weekend riots were the worst Greece has seen in years, with police holding overnight running battles and firing volleys of tear gas at rampaging youths who left parts of Athens' main shopping district gutted and looted.
Rioters were still barricaded Monday morning at two university campuses in Athens, while youths blocked two main roads in the capital and an urban rail system. Demonstrations also turned violent Monday in a small central Greek town of Trikala, where one policeman was reportedly injured and blocked a nearby national rail route.
In the second-largest Greek city of Thessaloniki, dozens of youths from the university marched down a major street, overturning trash cans setting some on fire on Monday morning.
Protesters planned more demonstrations on Monday evening in at least five Greek cities, including Athens and Thessaloniki in the north.
Britain and Australia have urged tourists to take care when visiting Athens and be aware of possible violent demonstrations.
Authorities have charged a 37-year-old police officer with murder over the shooting Saturday night of 15-year-old Alexandros Grigoropoulos in Athens' volatile central Exarchia district. Grigoropoulos was shot in the left side of the chest and died before an ambulance transported him to a state hospital, Health Ministry officials said.
The Police Officers' Association has apologized to the boy's family, and President Karolos Papoulias sent a telegram to his parents expressing his condolences.
``This death was a blow to the country ... I am certain that those responsible will be held to account,'' Papoulias said.
Police spokesman Panayiotis Stathis defended the police's handling of the riots, despite the extensive damage.
Police said 14 people had been arrested in Athens over the weekend for public disturbance offenses and looting. Health officials said hospitals have treated 29 people with minor injuries sustained during Sunday's violence.
``Under the circumstances, I think we achieved the best possible result. Human life was protected, both that of the demonstrators and the police, that's the most important thing,'' Stathis said.