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Backpack Bomb Kills Police Officer in SpainWorld
A Spanish police officer was killed and a bomb disposal expert was left fighting for his life when a hidden explosive went off in Oviedo.
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Police were called to the Villafria district at around 7:30 in the morning after reports of a dispute between neighbours in which shots had been fired. When officers arrived at a building on Rafael Urrusti Street, they found a 17-year-old girl with gunshot wounds. She was taken to the Central University Hospital of Asturias and doctors said she was out of danger.
Inside the entrance of the same building, officers spotted a suspicious backpack. Fearing it could contain explosives, they called in the National Police bomb disposal unit, known as TEDAX, to examine it.
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Blast as officers examined the bag
The device exploded at about 8:50 in the morning while a sub-inspector from the police canine unit was inspecting the backpack. The officer, named by the force only as Juan Jose, was killed at the scene. A TEDAX bomb disposal officer standing nearby was caught in the blast and suffered serious injuries, including the loss of a leg, according to Spanish media reports. Police said his condition was critical.
Spain’s National Police paid tribute to the dead officer in a statement on social media, saying the force was devastated by the loss of its colleague. The city’s mayor, Alfredo Canteli, travelled to the scene as a large police operation was launched in the area.
Police said the man suspected of shooting the girl and leaving the explosive device had fled and was still at large. A wide search was under way across the neighbourhood, with streets around the building cordoned off while investigators examined the scene.
According to police sources quoted by Spanish media, the suspect has a long record of ordinary criminal offences and a terrorist motive has been ruled out for now. Investigators are still working to establish whether the shooting and the bomb were connected, or whether they were two separate incidents that happened to unfold at the same place.
The blast sent shockwaves through the quiet residential area, where residents had woken to the sound of gunfire earlier in the morning. Local media reported that neighbours heard several shots before emergency services arrived, and the explosion hours later brought a heavy police presence to streets that are normally calm.
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