Night of panic and gunfire in the middle of the street in Cap de Salou, in front of a tourist apartment building on Wednesday night. Three hooded individuals stopped their car on the public road and without saying a word threw a long weapon at two men sitting inside another vehicle. Some witnesses speak of thirty shots. One of the victims died on the spot and the other, a few hours after being taken to hospital.
The flurry of gunfire sowed fear in the Plaça de les Palmeres area. There are many second homes and tourist accommodation. Some thought they were “firecrackers”. At least three of the cars parked on the same street were hit by bullets. Some tourists who heard the shooting from apartments and hotel rooms said they had heard screams of fear from witnesses who were surprised by the events in the street, around 10:30 p.m.
After the shooting, the three members of the group, who were clear what their objective was, got into the car and started a very quick escape. First through the streets of Salou and then along the highway that connects the coastal town with the AP-7. Once on the highway, full throttle in a northerly direction, towards Barcelona. A Mossos d’Esquadra patrol intercepted the car, with French registration, in the Mèdol service area, on AP-7 itself, around 11 p.m.
The officers were able to arrest one of the three members of the criminal group as he tried to flee on foot. He is a 24-year-old individual of French nationality. His two companions also left the vehicle, but did manage to escape. In the attackers’ car, the Mossos located two long weapons, a hand grenade and another short weapon.
The Catalan police suspect that the attackers initially intended to flee towards the French border. As their main escape route was thwarted, the whereabouts and intentions of the couple who managed to evade the Mossos were unknown yesterday afternoon.
It is also being investigated, due to the use of long weapons by the murderous group and the finding of the hand grenade, whether there are connections with organized crime.
In May 2022, three men shot another 20-year-old Frenchman in the center of Salou. The Mossos were not able to arrest them until a year later. The mobile of crime, a revenge between criminal groups of Lyon.
Tarragona District Court No. 6 has taken over the investigation for a double crime of murder. In addition to inspecting the scene of the shooting, the officers searched the two rooms where both victims were staying, which indicates that they were passing through Salou. They would have traveled from France with the aim of settling accounts there.
