A Spanish National Police officer was killed and a bomb disposal specialist lost a leg on Tuesday morning when a backpack bomb exploded in the Villafría neighborhood of Oviedo, in northern Spain.
Police had been called to a residential building after reports of a shooting, in which a woman was wounded by the gunman. The suspect fled the scene, and police say he may be armed.
At the entrance to the building, officers found a backpack that appeared to contain an explosive device. They called in the National Police’s canine unit and its TEDAX bomb disposal team. Police spokesman Pedro Aguado said the specialists moved the backpack out into the street to protect residents. It exploded while they were handling it.
The officer who was killed, identified by police as Juan José, was a sub-inspector in the canine unit. His explosives detection dog was also killed. The TEDAX officer was seriously wounded and lost a leg, and he remains hospitalized in very serious condition.
According to police sources cited by the Spanish daily El Español, police are searching for a 65-year-old man from the neighborhood with multiple prior records for theft and violence. Investigators are looking into whether he left the backpack at the building’s entrance as he fled. The building is a social housing complex, and police sources said the incident appears to be linked to a neighborhood dispute.
Authorities said there is no indication so far that the explosion was terror-related. Police cordoned off the area and set up checkpoints on roads into and out of Oviedo as the manhunt continued.
The National Police expressed its dismay at the death of its officer and wished the wounded TEDAX agent a speedy recovery. Oviedo’s city council said it would declare two days of mourning.
