Barcelona police are searching for a man after a fatal shooting in the city on Wednesday morning. The Mossos d'Esquadra are analysing a pistol and mobile phone found near the scene as they try to identify the suspect.
The shooting happened at about 9.50am at the junction of Balmes and Granada del Penedès streets, close to a National Police station, according to sources close to the case. Police said a man approached the victim from behind and shot him in the head.
Witnesses described the suspect as a man carrying a bicycle helmet. CCTV cameras nearby captured him as he fled on foot along Granada del Penedès street. Mossos officers searched the area using those descriptions, but did not find him.
Police later found the alleged murder weapon, a pistol, and a mobile phone in Plaça Gal·la Placídia, a square near the crime scene. The suspect is believed to have dropped the items while running away.
Sergi Riera, deputy head of the Catalan police for the Sarrià-Sant Gervasi area, said investigators are considering several possible motives, including a possible settling of scores linked to drug trafficking or organised crime. He also said the case is not connected to the Pope's visit to Barcelona. For more Catalonia-wide coverage, see our news page.
This is the third fatal shooting in Catalonia in the past month. Last Sunday, a man was shot dead on Mineria street in Barcelona. Another fatal shooting took place on the same street on 16 May. In April, another man was shot dead on a café terrace in Barcelona's Poble Nou neighbourhood, in a case linked to a dispute between criminal groups involved in the conflict between the Montenegrin mafia clans of Kavac and Skaljari.