costa del sol
Shooting incidents in La Cala and Benalmádena leave an Irish holidaymaker dead and a British resident injured
31.07.10 - 18:26 -
SCENE. The victim managed to stagger out of the bar as far as this bus stop where he collapsed. / F. J.
Last weekend a 34-year-old British man, who can only be identified using his initials, S.L. for legal reasons, was shot whilst in his own living room in La Cala de Mijas, just after midnight on Sunday.
According to police sources, the emergency services were called after neighbours heard shots and thumping noises coming from the victim’s home in the Cala Azul residential area. When they arrived, they discovered a man had been fired at twice as the attacker missed his intended target the first time but struck him in the abdomen with the second shot.
It is believed the gunman had put his hand through the open window of the man’s living room and began firing.
Despite the bullet entering the victim’s body it was a clean wound and did not damage any vital organs. After being taken to the Costa del Sol Hospital by the paramedics on the scene, who had feared a worse outcome for S.L, he was cleaned up and discharged.
Investigators are now trying to trace the attacker and discover a motive for the shooting, although police believe it is a settling of scores and could be drug-related.
Benalmádena
Another shooting incident took place earlier this week, which has left a 41-year-old Irish man dead in Benalmádena Costa
The events unfolded following a heated argument in Coco’s Bar on Avenida Antonio Machado between a British man and an Irish holidaymaker.
Sources say the dispute arose after the British man became furious that the Irish customer was taking so long in the bathroom. After banging repeatedly on the door and shouting at the victim, he left the bar and returned ten minutes later with a loaded gun.
“We thought it was all over when he’d gone. We thought it was just a little fight that had blown over,” says a source.
The gunman had other ideas. He burst back into the bar and as he pulled the trigger there was a stampede as customers and bar staff tried to flee the scene. “It was terrifying,” says our source. “We just didn’t know what was going to happen next. Some people managed to get out, others hid under tables.”
Reports say the assailant ventured out on the terrace and continued firing until he ran out of bullets.
“I cannot believe that more people weren’t injured or killed,” says the witness.
One of the five shots that were fired managed to hit the Irishman in the abdomen. Seriously injured, the victim, who can only be named as J.O. at this stage, managed to stagger out of the bar and walked a few metres. He fell at the bus stop opposite the bar.
Meanwhile, the suspect had fled the scene.
There were various calls to the emergency services from people in the area and the bar itself reporting the incident, but when the ambulance arrived at the scene, the man was already dead.
Several people, including the wife of the victim, had to be treated for shock.
It is thought the Irishman, who leaves behind two children and a wife, was in Benalmádena on holiday to celebrate the wedding of a relative.
Police and forensic specialists are now analysing the scene and searching for the alleged perpetrator. According to police officials, although yet to be found, the suspect was immediately identified and has a previous record for violent crime. It is believed he has lived on the Costa del Sol for some time with his family.
This latest incident bears parallels with other two murders that took place in June. One of them occurred on in a bar terrace in Riviera del Sol, where a young Irishman allegedly shot and killed a British man following an argument over a trivial matter. The other happened in La Carihuela, when a waiter was shot by a Spanish customer who was told to stop harassing a woman who was drinking in the bar.
