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Barcelona attack: Cambrils terror suspect was 'smiling and taunting' after being shot by Spanish police, claims eyewitness

'Police jumped out the car and started shouting at the guy, he was saying something else again, and then 'pop, pop', a couple of shots and he fell down and then he stood back up'

Lucy Pasha-Robinson
Friday 18 August 2017 10:45 BST
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Eyewitness: Cambrils terror suspect was 'smiling and taunting' after being shot by Spanish police

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A suspect in the Cambrils terror attack was seen “smiling and taunting” after being shot twice by Spanish police, an eyewitness has claimed.

Fitzroy Davies, a British man on holiday in the region, spoke of the “horrendous night” that saw attackers plough a van through crowds in Barcelona killing at least 13 people before launching a second assault an hour south of the city, injuring six.

Catalan police shot dead five people to foil the second attack in the seaside town but the Wolverhampton man told how one of the suspected terrorists continued to provoke officers even after being shot with a first round of bullets.

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“Police jumped out the car and started shouting at the guy, he was saying something else again, and then 'pop, pop', a couple of shots and he fell down and then he stood back up and then he stepped over the fence and he started like taunting and smiling,” he told BBC Radio 4.

“Then he carried on walking to the police and then they gave it to him again, a couple more shots, and then he fell to the ground and that’s when I decided to go.”

All five suspects were carrying what appeared to be suicide belts, which were later detonated by the force's bomb squad.

Mr Davies said: “He did have something on, but I couldn't tell exactly what it was but it was shiny stuff...it would have scared anybody and he had something in his hand. He was shouting and running up and down the street.”

The belts were later confirmed to have been fake.

The force said it was working on the theory that the Cambrils suspects were linked to an attack late Thursday afternoon on Barcelona's Las Ramblas area and an earlier explosion in the town of Alcanar in which one person was killed.

The regional police said they could not yet confirm how the civilians and police officer were injured in Cambrils.

Local media have reported a vehicle crashed into a police car and nearby civilians and that police shot the attackers, included one brandishing a knife.

A spokeswoman for the force said that officers shot dead four alleged perpetrators, with a fifth later dying from injuries sustained during the raid.

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