Police in Barcelona Shoot at Stolen Truck Loaded With Gas Canisters
21, 2017
MADRID — The police opened fire on Tuesday after the driver of a stolen truck carrying butane gas,
and moving at high speed near Barcelona’s main ring road, refused to stop.
Although there were no fatalities, the chase quickly raised tensions in Spain, which remains on high alert after major terrorist
attacks in other European countries, including deadly episodes involving trucks in Nice, France, and in Berlin.
Joan Carles Molinero, a regional police chief, said during a news conference in Barcelona
that the driver’s motives were unclear, and that terrorism was not one of the lines of investigation.
" said the police chief, who also noted that the driver was unarmed when he was arrested.
that We are working on the possibility that it is a person with some kind of imbalance or consumption of substances,
Barcelona, Spain’s second-largest city after Madrid, is a hub of the country’s tourism industry, with more than seven million visitors a year.
The driver ignored several warnings and attempts to stop him,
and more than half of the gas canisters in the truck fell off as he sped along, the police said.