TIRANA, Albania (AP) A shooting outside Albania's capital that reportedly was linked to political party activists before a parliamentary election this week killed one person and injured four others on Wednesday, according to police and media reports.
A police statement said that an officer was among the injured when she tried to break up an argument in the central city of Elbasan, 35 kilometers (20 miles) south of Tirana. Several people have been detained, including the suspected gunman. No further details were given by police.
Local media reported that the victim and three others who were injured belong to the governing Socialist Party local office while the alleged attacker is a bodyguard of a center-right main opposition Democratic Party politician.
Taulant Balla, the head of the Socialists parliamentary group, accused the Democratic Party of sending groups of paramilitaries, armed men from other cities to frighten the people in Elbasan.
Gazmend Bardhi of the Democratic Party, whose bodyguard reportedly opened fire, said a car allegedly belonging to the Socialists' group was distributing money among voters.
The electoral campaign has been tense in the final days before Sundays election, in which pre-electoral polls indicate that the Socialists will get the most votes.
A few days earlier, a Democratic Party activist was injured in the western city of Kavaja, for which the Democrats accuse the governing Socialists.
