Police officer killed, another injured by bomb after Oviedo shooting

A police officer was killed and another seriously injured when a backpack bomb exploded in the northern Spanish city of Oviedo on Tuesday morning, after officers had responded to a shooting that wounded a 17-year-old girl, police said. The blast happened shortly before 9am on Rafael R. Urrusti street in the Villafría neighbourhood, El Mundo and RTVE reported.

Police said the trouble began around 7:30am with a dispute between two neighbouring families that turned violent, leaving the teenager shot and injured. She was taken to the Central University Hospital of Asturias and is not in danger, officers said.

When canine-unit and bomb-disposal officers reached the building, they found a backpack containing an explosive device in the entrance, according to El Mundo. A canine-unit subinspector, named by the force as Juan José, approached the backpack to examine it and was killed when it detonated. A colleague from the bomb-disposal unit, Tedax, was taken to hospital with a leg amputated, RTVE said.

Police said they have identified the suspected gunman, described as a man in his 60s who fled in a high-value car and may be carrying both a short and a long firearm, and are continuing to search for him, Europa Press and El Mundo reported. Officers sealed off access points to Oviedo in what they called a 'cage' operation to try to catch him, according to ElDiario.es. Investigators said the man has previous convictions for petty crime and that his profile ruled out a terrorist motive, according to police sources cited by the EFE news agency.

Oviedo's mayor, Alfredo Canteli, declared two days of civic mourning and ordered flags flown at half-mast, while the city cancelled its public agenda and election campaigning was suspended across Asturias, El Mundo and ElDiario.es reported. Asturias regional president Adrián Barbón and opposition leader Alberto Núñez Feijóo both sent condolences on social media.