A police officer was killed and another seriously injured on Tuesday morning in Oviedo, Spain, when an explosive device left in a backpack detonated after a shooting in the city's Villafría neighborhood.
Police received a call at about 7:30 a.m. reporting a dispute between neighbors in which shots had been fired, police spokesman Pedro Aguado said. Officers arriving at the scene found a 17-year-old girl with gunshot wounds. She was taken to the Central University Hospital of Asturias and is out of danger.
Inside the entryway of the residence, officers discovered a backpack containing an explosive device. At about 8:40 a.m., the device exploded while it was being inspected, claiming the life of one officer and leaving another seriously injured. The officer who died was a sub-inspector in the National Police canine unit, named by the force as Juan José. He was killed while inspecting the suspicious backpack. The injured officer serves in the TEDAX-NRBQ explosives unit.
The suspected gunman fled the scene, and police closed all roads into Oviedo as they hunted for the suspect, who they said could be armed. The operation caused long traffic backups at the entrances to the city. Police sources told Spanish media that the suspect had an extensive police record for ordinary crimes and that a terrorist motive had been ruled out for now.
The DAOS take: this is the public-safety lesson every one of us needs to carry, and it has nothing to do with the headlines around it. If you see a bag, a package or any object left somewhere it does not belong — especially after a disturbance — do not touch it, do not move it, and do not stand over it to get a better look. Move away, get other people clear, and call the authorities. The officers who ran toward that backpack were doing their job. The rest of us stay safe by doing the opposite of what instinct says: create distance, stay calm, and let the trained people handle it. Situational awareness is not paranoia. It is the habit that gets you home.
Sources: The Insight International
More from DAOS Magazine:
Latest fight + hip-hop coverage · deadlyartofsurvival.com · DAOS Party tickets — Dec 5, Harlem