Barcelona attack: Police shoot suspect Younes Abouyaaqoub as death toll rises to 15
The fugitive who was behind the terrorist attacks last week in Spain was shot by police officers Monday afternoon in a village about 20 miles west of Barcelona, police announced.
Major Josep Lluís Trapero, police chief in the Catalonia region, of which Barcelona is the capital, said at a news conference on Monday prior to the shooting of Abouyaaqoub that police had "solid indications" that Essati was one of them, although they were awaiting the results of DNA tests. The other is yet to be positively identified.
Police also said Monday that they were certain that Abouyaaqoub was the driver of the van.
They released surveillance camera images of Abouyaaqoub, wearing a striped polo shirt, and gave details about how he managed to escape from downtown Barcelona. "We believe he was the only one in the van and driving it," Trapero said.
Abouyaaqoub fled on foot from Las Ramblas, police said, and crossed another popular tourist destination, La Boqueria, a busy food market. He then spotted a stationary car in the city's university district, killed the owner and put the body on the back seat. Then he forced his way through a police checkpoint.
The driver, Perez, was found stabbed to death in his vehicle on the outskirts of Barcelona. Mr Trapero said that the police couldn't yet establish Abouyaaqoub's whereabouts beyond that point.
Two of the 15 people killed were children, including Julian Cadman, a 7-year-old who had both Australian and British citizenship. Six victims were Spanish, including one who also held an Argentine passport, three were Italians, two Portuguese, one Belgian, one American and one Canadian, authorities said.
Fifty victims of the attacks remained in hospitals Monday, 12 of them in critical condition, down from the 126 who were taken to hospitals immediately after the attacks last week.
The police chief said that the investigation had gained an international dimension, implying that other countries' police and intelligence agencies were now involved, but did not provide details.
He also would not comment on reports that the imam had long-standing ties to extremists and had spent time overseas, including in Belgium early last year, shortly before terrorists attacked the airport and subway in Brussels. The imam spent time in prison in Spain on drug-related charges, but had no record for terrorism-related activities.
Mr Trapero defended the level of police surveillance before the attacks, the most serious since 2004, when terrorists bombed commuter trains in Madrid, killing 192 people.
The country has avoided major acts of jihadi terrorism since then, even as the Islamic State group and other extremists struck other cities across Europe.
Mr Trapero said that it would be "playing dirty" to accuse the police of lapses, and said the police never received information that would have justified acting against members of the cell.
http://www.theage.com.au/world/barc...s-death-toll-rises-to-15-20170821-gy174d.html
The fugitive who was behind the terrorist attacks last week in Spain was shot by police officers Monday afternoon in a village about 20 miles west of Barcelona, police announced.
Major Josep Lluís Trapero, police chief in the Catalonia region, of which Barcelona is the capital, said at a news conference on Monday prior to the shooting of Abouyaaqoub that police had "solid indications" that Essati was one of them, although they were awaiting the results of DNA tests. The other is yet to be positively identified.
Police also said Monday that they were certain that Abouyaaqoub was the driver of the van.
They released surveillance camera images of Abouyaaqoub, wearing a striped polo shirt, and gave details about how he managed to escape from downtown Barcelona. "We believe he was the only one in the van and driving it," Trapero said.
Abouyaaqoub fled on foot from Las Ramblas, police said, and crossed another popular tourist destination, La Boqueria, a busy food market. He then spotted a stationary car in the city's university district, killed the owner and put the body on the back seat. Then he forced his way through a police checkpoint.
The driver, Perez, was found stabbed to death in his vehicle on the outskirts of Barcelona. Mr Trapero said that the police couldn't yet establish Abouyaaqoub's whereabouts beyond that point.
Two of the 15 people killed were children, including Julian Cadman, a 7-year-old who had both Australian and British citizenship. Six victims were Spanish, including one who also held an Argentine passport, three were Italians, two Portuguese, one Belgian, one American and one Canadian, authorities said.
Fifty victims of the attacks remained in hospitals Monday, 12 of them in critical condition, down from the 126 who were taken to hospitals immediately after the attacks last week.
The police chief said that the investigation had gained an international dimension, implying that other countries' police and intelligence agencies were now involved, but did not provide details.
He also would not comment on reports that the imam had long-standing ties to extremists and had spent time overseas, including in Belgium early last year, shortly before terrorists attacked the airport and subway in Brussels. The imam spent time in prison in Spain on drug-related charges, but had no record for terrorism-related activities.
Mr Trapero defended the level of police surveillance before the attacks, the most serious since 2004, when terrorists bombed commuter trains in Madrid, killing 192 people.
The country has avoided major acts of jihadi terrorism since then, even as the Islamic State group and other extremists struck other cities across Europe.
Mr Trapero said that it would be "playing dirty" to accuse the police of lapses, and said the police never received information that would have justified acting against members of the cell.
http://www.theage.com.au/world/barc...s-death-toll-rises-to-15-20170821-gy174d.html
