Oviedo police officer killed in backpack explosion after shooting, Digi Mart USA News (Oviedo, Spain): A National Police canine handler has died and a bomb disposal officer, known as a Tedax agent, has been seriously injured with a leg amputated after a backpack exploded in a building entrance on Calle Rafael Urrusti in the Villafría neighborhood of Oviedo, according to a report published by El Mundo.
Officers had been deployed to the area following an earlier alert about a shooting that occurred shortly after 7:00 a.m., in which a 17-year-old girl was wounded and remains in serious condition in hospital. Police sources told El Mundo that officers arriving at the scene saw a partly open backpack with a flashing light and alerted the Tedax unit.
A police sub-inspector from the canine unit approached to inspect the bag, and it exploded at that moment, killing him. His Tedax colleague, who was with him, was injured and taken in serious condition to the Hospital Universitario Central de Asturias.
According to the newspaper, he suffered the amputation of a leg. The explosion occurred at about 9:00 a.m.
The investigation is now focused on determining whether the earlier shooting is connected to the backpack detonation and on the reasons a man, who remains at large, opened fire on the teenager. Sources cited by El Mundo said the suspected gunman has a prior record for petty theft.
After the shooting and leaving the backpack in the entrance, he fled in a high-end vehicle and is possibly armed with both a handgun and a long gun, which investigators consider a high-risk escape.
Police have set up a search perimeter across the city and at its access points. Oviedo mayor Alfredo Canteli went to the scene to gather information amid continuing confusion about what happened.
National Police, describing the event as a “serious incident,” have deployed a large operation and the area has been cordoned off. According to the report, officers had gone to a residence after a call about a young woman who had been shot and whose father was trying to take her to hospital.
The Jupol police union expressed its “deep pain and dismay” at the death of the officer and extended condolences to his family, friends and colleagues. The union also said it offered its full support to the injured colleague and his family during what it described as an extraordinarily difficult time.
